Wingless flower wasp blue-ant female

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The Blue-ant is not an ant but a species of flower wasp from the family Tiphiidae. The females are wingless, live on the ground and, apart from being a bright metallic blue or green, closely resemble an ant. The main task of the female is to hunt for and find ground-dwelling mole cricket larvae. When she finds one she paralyses it with her sting and lays an egg on it. Female Blue-ants are capable of delivering a painful sting if disturbed.

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Size: 5146px × 3418px
Location: Wimmera, Victoria, Australia
Photo credit: © Denis Crawford / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: ant, australian, bicolor, blue, blue-ant, bluebottle, diamma, female, hymenoptera, insect, macro, native, parasite, tiphiidae, wasp, wingless