Mason Wasp

The Mason Wasps also known as potter wasps belong subfamily Eumeninae of  family Vespidae. There are more than 3200 species of mason wasps in more than 200 genera. The tiny Mason Wasp you see here is measuring about 5mm in length. Its head, thorax and abdomen are black with light yellow marking, while the waist is reddish. It builds a series of attached cylindrical nests, consists of three cells each. The cells are filled with paralyzed caterpillars as food for the larvae.

 Mason Wasp

Any help in identification of the species would be highly appreciated.

Flower Wasp

The Flower Wasp here is commonly know as Blue-black Flower Wasp or Hairy Flower Wasp belong to family Scoliidae. It has a black hairy body, orange colored antennae and shiny blue wings. The adult wasp feeds upon nectar and thus helps in pollination. The larvae act as important bio-control agents, feeding upon beetle larvae in the ground.

Flower Wasp

Chalcid wasp

Chalcid Wasp (Conura nigricornis)

Oriental Hornet

The Oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis), is a species of wasp in the family Vespidae, subfamily Vespinaeis. The species ranges from southeast Europe and north Africa, across east and central Asia to India and Nepal. The female queen measures 25 to 35 mm long; males and workers are smaller. In males, the antennae have 13 segments, while females always have 12. It's a predator, preying on bees and flies. It is also attracted to meat and other foods that are rich in sugar contents like fruit and sweets etc. It can deliver a very painful sting if provoked.

Oriental Hornet (Vespa orientalis)

Red Wasp

The Red Wasp, you see here is most probably Polistes carolina, a member of the family Vespidae. It's also known as red paper wasp. They build paper nests. They are considered beneficial as they are predatory, feeding on other insects particularly caterpillars. However they can cause problems when they build nests in or around human habitations, as they are capable of delivering painful stings. Therefore one should be careful while handling the wasps or their nest.

Red Wasp (Polistes carolina)

Antlion Larva-Doodlebug

The term Antlion is generally used for both larval and adult form of insects in the family Myrmeleontidae. To differentiate between the larval and adult form we use the terms antlion larva  and adult antlion. It got the name antlion because it's voracious predator of ants and other insects.  A beautiful name for Antlion Larva is Doodlebug. Antlion larva lives underground and digs a cone shaped pit in the sand to trap ants and other insects. The pit is sloped in such a way that once an ant or other insect falls in, it slides to bottom of the pit, where it's grabbed by the antlion larva using its large jaws.
In my childhood doodlebug's pits were great entertainment for me. I used to drop ants in the pits, but never dig a pit to see what is inside.

Antlion Larva-Doodlebugs Pictures

Doodlebug's Pit

Cuckoo Wasps Mating

Cuckoo Wasps Mating Pictures

The Egg Parasitoid Wasp-Trissolcus basalis

The parasitoid wasp here is The Egg Parasitoid Wasp (Trissolcus basalis). It would be more suitable to call it Stinkbug Eggs Parasitoid Wasp, as it's the natural predators of stink bugs, at the eggs stage.

The Egg Parasitoid Wasp-Trissolcus basalis

Short-tailed Ichneumon Wasp (Ophion sp.)

The Short-tailed Ichneumon Wasp (Ophion Sp.) is a species of wasp in the family Ichneumonidae (Ichneumon Wasps), subfamily Ophioninae. They are solitary wasps. The adults feed on nectar while the larvae are parasites of caterpillars. The female parasitize caterpillars. Generally one egg is laid per caterpillars. Caterpillar usually dies during pupal stage. They are important natural biological control agent.

Short-tailed Ichneumon Wasp - Ophion Sp.

Mantis Parasitic Wasp

Mantis Parasitic Wasp (Podagrion sp.) is a tiny parasitic wasp (Body length: 3mm) in the family Torymidae, superfamily Chalcidoidea (Chalcid Wasps). It has metallic dark blue/green head and thorax. The abdomen and legs are yellowish brown. The rear legs are strong and toothed, having swollen femurs. As the name suggests, it's a parasitoid of praying mantid egg cases. The female use its long ovipositor to deposit its eggs in the fresh mantis egg case.

Mantis Parasitic Wasp (Female)

Cuckoo Wasps

The wasps in the Hymenopteran family Chrysididae are commonly known as Cuckoo wasps. Cuckoo wasps are brilliant metallic blue, green or reddish in color. They are known by a number of common names including jewel wasp, gold wasp and emerald wasp.

Cuckoo Wasps

Evaniidae Ensign Wasps

Evaniidae is a family of parasitic wasps, generally known as the ensign wasps or hatchet wasps. There are about 400 species of  ensign wasps in 20 extant genera all over the world. The ensign wasp deposits her eggs inside cockroach egg cases, where the larvae develop. Due to this behavior of ensign wasps, They're know as Cockroach Egg Parasitoid Wasps. They're also known as Cockroach Killer Wasps.

Evaniidae-Ensign Wasp

Mud Dauber Wasp

Black and Yellow Mud Dauber (Sceliphron caementarium) is a species of wasps in the family Sphecidae. They are solitary wasps that build nests out of mud and that is why they are called mud dauber wasps.

Mud Dauber Wasp