A Wasp and Spider!

 Spider

I have only occasionally noticed a Blue Mud Wasp in our garden. As they are not commonly seen elsewhere in the world, I have had doubts if it can be something else. That debate in my mind is not yet over. 

In the recent weeks since the jasmines are flowering, there are a few of them, who search for nectar in the bud stage of the flowers. 

I look out for these spiders, one of them above, which are small and are often missed, in the jasmine, and rose flowers recently. They can be sometimes seen in other flowers as well. 

For a while, I missed seeing them. 

The culprit is the Blue mud wasp, whose preferred meal is spiders. In fact, they eliminate the Black widow spiders which are poisonous from the garden. The blue wasp feed their larvae with spider while they thrive on honey to receive energy to fly long distances. The wasp sting the spider to immobilise them and make a feed out of them. 

What was even more  intriguing is the tendency of the buds of jasmine falling off before they bloom. Has it got something to do with the Blue wasp feeding on the buds! 

At the end of a walk into the garden, one wonders about the several silent equations in nature which balance the setting for the wellness of humans. 

Noe that I found out form my current search that Blue mud wasp are fun near the spider web, it gives me another reason to be more observant of the spider web. 

What stays with me the colour of this wasp, blue with a sheen of black! Beautiful to look at!

M.C.Mathew (text and photo)