South Pond - 8.30.10 - Post 3 (The Very Hungry Caterpillar Gets a Very Stripey Friend)

Okay, yesterday I posted a huge batch of pictures of a monarch caterpillar.  Well, while I was planted on the boardwalk snapping away, a wasp came over and joined Claude.  (We'll call him Claude.  'A monarch caterpillar' gets a little old after a while, and after all, I've gone on about him for two days, so he deserves a name. :)

Claude and a Wasp

Here's Claude and his friend the wasp.  The wasp is drinking from the flowers... Claude is eating the thing whole.  I'm really thrilled with how clear this little wasp came out.  You can see how he's using his antennae to hold himself still and his bright green eyes are mesmerizing.

The Wasp Sees Claude

In this one you can see in the space between the wasp's eyes.  And you can see Claude twisting to work on that slightly raggedy flower.  You can see the stem left from the flower he was eating in yesterday's post just to the left of Claude's antennae.  You can see the black splotch on his back in this one.

Parallel Stripes

This may be the best shot of the two of them.  The wasp came in ridiculously clear.  This is the shot that let me identify him as a sand wasp.  Which explains why he was so content to be so close to the ground.

Parenthetical Insects

This one gives the effect of a set of parenthesis turned 90 degrees. 

A Closer Inspection

Here the wasp comes down to check out Claude.  Claude seems way more interested in sucking down that milkweed flower.

Wasp Eyes on the Photographer (Claude Doesn't Care)

Now the wasp is looking at me.  I mentioned a few posts back that I need to become re-afraid of things that can puncture me.  Apparently this was not that day.

Friends Come in Every Stripe

 I have to say that I did love that Claude and the wasp had the same colors and are both stripes.  It makes the visual effect simpler and, I think, more striking.  There's probably a joke about them calling each other to coordinate their outfits that day. :)









Okay, I'm still not done with the day's hike, but I think I may be done with Claude.  He was an awesome 'portrait model' though, and I wish him well in his butterflying days ahead.