Thursday Invertebrate Blogging: Westchester Wasps

I've been so busy working up in White Plains for the past few weeks that I'm late with TIB once again.

However, I think this week's edition will be worth the wait. Everyone knows that Westchester county is filled with W.A.S.P.s, but I'll bet you didn't know they are literally crawling out of the rocks. I took my camera with me every day this week on the off chance that I could finally get a photograph of a slowly growing garden spider (Argiope sp.). No such luck. We had "working lunches," and it was usually dark by the time I had wrapped up each day's business.

Today, however, I wrapped up around 4:00 and headed out for the bush containing the aforementioned spider. On my way there, I noticed several boulder sized landscaping rocks with prominent "caves" in their faces. I don't know what process caused the caves (they appeared natural), but one of them was covered with a thick spider's web - paydirt!

I decided to snap a picture of the spider with unexpected results, as you will see.

Hmmm. I wonder what sort of spider is lurking in this cave? Let's take a closer look.

Damn, the web is ruining the autofocus. Guess I'll just have too switch to manual. Whaaaa?!?!?

Wow this is cool! I can't wait to get closer. Wait a minute. They sure are moving around a lot more now since that flash went off.

Aiiiieeeeeeiiiiiieeeee!

As you can imagine, this could have turned out be one of those amusing anecdotes had I not anticipated their rapid exit from the hole and stepped away quickly. I suppose getting sprayed in the crotch by a sprinkler as I leapt back might have been considered mildly amusing by some onlookers, but I'd take a little embarassment over being stung. I'd already been there and done that.

As a kid, I was stung nearly twenty times by yellow jackets (Vespula spp.) while rummaging in a junkpile in a nearby field, and only escaped by jumping into the cow pond where the bull many of us feared was enjoying a sultry September afternoon with his harem. The bull and his entourage turned out to be rank cowards; three screaming kids barreling toward them at top speed provoked a mass exodus from the pool, which turned out to be more of a fertilizer holding tank than a pond. I didn't care. I just needed to be rid of those yellow jackets.

Visit the Friday Ark!.

Comments

[F-Stop]

You so crazy...

[alice]

Beautiful photos! I daresay you went above and beyond the call of duty! ;)

[dope]

I smelled so bad I stripped out of evertthing but my underoos as I headed back home. Amazingly, I had no allergic reaction whatsoever. My mom and brother both had strong reactions to stings, but that's one allergy I don't seem to have.

[The Fixer]

. . . which turned out to be more of a fertilizer holding tank than a pond.

Had a certain 'air' about ya afterward, didja? Heh.

[Steve-o]

Blaaaaaarghhhh!