Dear Raghu ji: I an in total awe... we ( I ) generally run far from wasps ( I have allergic reactions to some wqaasp and bee stings)...
but wonder of wonders... great photos on your picassa album.... awesome and inspiring... they are crisp, beautifully done.... seems you took time to focus etc... spent time near each of the stingers... and this particular justicia, i have never seen one in this part of india.... striking green veins.. usha di ===== On Jun 7, 9:56 pm, raghu ananth <[email protected]> wrote: > Squirrel's tail - Hill Justicia, Justicia betonica, a native weed plant of > India > > While Scanning through my wasp photo collection, I soon realized this > particular flowering plant ..Squirrel's tail - Justicia betonica.. (Thanks to > Dr. Neil for the ID help.,) had attracted at least a dozen kind of wasps ( few > bees too). Dreaming of a wasp garden in my home, I collected few young one's > with roots along with few other wasp plants & planted them in my home > ground. > A week later.. I found all of them breathing. Still Alive.... Three weeks > later > .. the squirrel tails had disappeared altogether. > My sightings suggests they are found along the canal & lake edge habitat. > These > plants start emerging just before the South West Monsoon commences and are in > found in abundance in this habitat till the spring ends. > > Chandagal village, Krishnarajanagar, Mysore district. > Weed plant > Habitat: along the canal and lake edges > > Few of my South Indian wasp > pictures,http://picasaweb.google.com/earthsublime/WorldOfWasps > > /* Birds, reptiles, mammals and insects – I have a tremendous liking for all > of > them. These wasp photographs have been taken in their natural habitats mainly > on > the village outskirts and a few in the forests as well. (collection started > from > 2004 onwards). I love these creatures for they are beautiful with true colour > combinations and patterns , beautiful pair of antenna and for the way they > keep > their steps with elegance, graceful pivoting around the flowers, moving its > feelers, flying from one flower to another and feeding on nectar. They have > very > interesting behaviour - choosing the thatched roof for building nests, > collecting clay from nearby waterbodies, Buzzing and flying into home from the > window/open doors, nest building skills (of certain wasps), flying with > larvaes > into nests and sometimes paralysing spiders and dragging into nests, closing > the > entrance of the nest.... Though, there are many stories on wasp attacks among > villagers 9mainly when disturbed), I thank them for allowing me always to > take > few pictures in close proximities. > */ > > Regards > Raghu > Chennai > > DSC_7826.jpg > 200KViewDownload > > WaspPlantSet1.jpg > 136KViewDownload > > WaspPlantSet2.jpg > 170KViewDownload
