Monday 26 December 2016

Why do wasps love my oregano?

So I googled ‘why do wasps like my oregano/oreganum flowers’ and found nothing. Only pages with advice on how to keep wasps away from gardens.

But what I’ve been observing this week is rather interesting: within half an hour I recorded at least ten species of wasp visiting my oregano bush, together with honey bees, solitary bees and what appear to be some flies imitating wasps. By contrast, the prolifically flower sage next to the oregano is attracting very little attention.

All the species of wasps were docile at the least: all these photos were taken with my macro lens. Also, Charlie got in there to point out some of the more interesting ones.

Fairly regularly the wasps are observed to ‘pee’, and from their behaviour, they love drinking oregano nectar.







Hover fly on sage

Fly or Wasp?

Little one only caught in flight





Mr Small Black

Solitary bee





Where's the wasp, Charlie?



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