Help with Butterfly-predacious Hornets
Doug Yanega
dyanega at mono.icb.ufmg.br
Sun Oct 19 15:55:13 EDT 1997
>I am seeking information on eliminating a large, orange-yellow
>colored hornet which frequently preys on butterflies which are
>attracted to a butterfly bush in my yard.
Probably not a hornet, but a type of digger wasp, instead.
>I would appreciate any info pertaining to the typical nest-site
>(location and discreption), for these hornets as I have been unable
>to locate a nest. Any info regarding these hornets daily flight-range
>may also be helpful in locating the nest/s.
Holes in the ground, one wasp in each, sometimes scattered all over
creation, but also sometimes in clumps. Got sandy soil around? Like, say,
within a half-mile radius? That's where to start. Could be anywhere from
one to a few hundred nests. They probably eat things besides butterflies,
as well.
>Unless these hornets are on some endangered species list, I would
>like to put them nearer to one !
They're probably rarer and more threatened than most of the butterflies in
your garden, that's for sure. Me, I'd be absolutely thrilled to have the
wasps, but that's a personal choice as a scientist.
Peace,
Doug Yanega Depto. de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas,
Univ. Fed. de Minas Gerais, Cx.P. 486, 30.161-970 Belo Horizonte, MG BRAZIL
phone: 031-448-1223, fax: 031-441-5481 (from U.S., prefix 011-55)
http://www.icb.ufmg.br/~dyanega/
"There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
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