During my recent trip to the eastern parts of Washington and Oregon, I stayed at a bed and breakfast owned by a family that includes two young boys. It turns out that Arden, the five year old, is fascinated by photography. He carries around a small camera his father gave him, and I was the subject of at least one candid portrait, much to my dismay. Naturally, Arden was intrigued by my camera and the bugs I was forever chasing.
One afternoon, we all went for a drive into the countryside to see the local sights and look for bees. It was blistery hot and I happened to find a road puddle that was crammed with not bees but European paper wasps. They were floating, skimming, and flying all around this unlikely oasis. On a whim, I gave my camera to Arden, and after about 30 seconds of instruction he hunched over the puddle with no apparent fear of wasps. He remained absolutely motionless, so still I found myself holding my breath. I was beginning to think he didn’t understand what I’d said, when he steadily depressed the button.
The odd thing is that I would have chosen a different wasp. In order to get an uncluttered background, I would have chosen one without the weeds underneath. But I think his photo proves me wrong—or at least not totally right. The splayed out weed mimics the splayed legs of the wasp in a creepy, other-worldly way. I looked at it a long time and decided it is truly a work of art.
So congratulations, Arden, on your first published work!
Rusty
HoneyBeeSuite
Beautiful!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wasp stand on top of the water like that, I’ve only ever seen them break through the surface film and drown. Interesting!
(Incidentally, that looks like a European Paper Wasp, Polistes dominula, based on the orange antenna tips and the yellow stripe running across the front of the thorax.)
Hi Tim!
Thanks for the clarification. I will be the first to admit I know little about wasp i.d.—I usually send my photos to bugguide.net before I post, but this time I didn’t. That will teach me. I corrected the post.
The wasps were indeed very interesting. Many, perhaps 30 at a time, were standing on the water.
Great job Arden, this as a great photo!! =)