New species? - Ask Extension
Hi, there are innumerable wasps ON my pond. They act like water striders, aka Jesus bugs, walkin, perhaps filling up with water, right ON TOP of the ...
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New species? #879784
Asked August 01, 2024, 4:13 PM EDT
Hi, there are innumerable wasps ON my pond. They act like water striders, aka Jesus bugs, walkin, perhaps filling up with water, right ON TOP of the water!
I’ve never seen anything like these guys in my 79 years in Oregon, northern Calif, nor Texas.
Are they actually a new species?
Josephine County Oregon
Expert Response
Hi Malcolm,
That sounds really interesting! I have not seen wasps balancing on the water surface of a pond before and don't know of any species that does that.
If you are motivated and want to know what those are, it would really help if you could either get a good, in-focus, close-up photo of some of them or could grab some specimens (carefully so you do not get stung).
If you grab specimens, you could send them to us at the OSU Plant Clinic for identification. Here is a link to instructions for how to submit a sample if you would like to do that....
https://bpp.oregonstate.edu/how-submit-insect-and-spider-materials
That sounds really interesting! I have not seen wasps balancing on the water surface of a pond before and don't know of any species that does that.
If you are motivated and want to know what those are, it would really help if you could either get a good, in-focus, close-up photo of some of them or could grab some specimens (carefully so you do not get stung).
If you grab specimens, you could send them to us at the OSU Plant Clinic for identification. Here is a link to instructions for how to submit a sample if you would like to do that....
https://bpp.oregonstate.edu/how-submit-insect-and-spider-materials
Hi, Bill, thanks for the reply!
This is the best of 20-30 attempts. Not too good, but at least you can clearly see the shadows of his six feet dimpling the water, just like a water strider.
One of them landed on my shoulder; I tried to photograph him in a selfie, but he wanted no part of this and left before I could take a shot.
Looks like a plain old paper wasp to me, but perhaps with black stripes rather than the brown stripes I’m used to.
I prefer not killing one; we went two summers with ZERO wasps, and there seem to be only a very few of these new guys.
Cheers,
Malcolm
On Aug 7, 2024, at 6:34 AM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
Hi again, Malcolm,
Well...thanks for trying to get a good photo. I could see it was a yellow and black wasp standing on the water surface, but couldn't see enough detail to tell what kind of wasp it was.
Your comment about it looking like a paper wasp got me thinking though, so I searched for yellow and black paper wasps that can be found in OR & CA. The closest match to what I could tell from the photo is a species called Polistes aurifer. Here is a map that shows the range of this species...
https://bugguide.net/node/view/24972/data
And apparently, this species can stand on the surface of water. Here are a couple photos of them doing that...
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1623657/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/79583/bgimage
Could this be what you are seeing?
Enjoy!
Well...thanks for trying to get a good photo. I could see it was a yellow and black wasp standing on the water surface, but couldn't see enough detail to tell what kind of wasp it was.
Your comment about it looking like a paper wasp got me thinking though, so I searched for yellow and black paper wasps that can be found in OR & CA. The closest match to what I could tell from the photo is a species called Polistes aurifer. Here is a map that shows the range of this species...
https://bugguide.net/node/view/24972/data
And apparently, this species can stand on the surface of water. Here are a couple photos of them doing that...
https://bugguide.net/node/view/1623657/bgimage
https://bugguide.net/node/view/79583/bgimage
Could this be what you are seeing?
Enjoy!
Thanks so much for IDing this “water wasp”. I’ve lived in their range my entire life (79 years),a but never saw them walking on water before a few days ago.
D
Cheers,
Malcolm
On Aug 8, 2024, at 10:20 PM, Ask Extension <<personal data hidden>> wrote:
Glad we could help, Malcolm!
I learned something new too, since I have never seen those in person before.
Enjoy!
I learned something new too, since I have never seen those in person before.
Enjoy!
