Tiny Ones

Sunlight streaming through the goldenrod branches glinted off a dust-like mote in the air. The speck hovered purposefully, like a living thing, but with the diaphanous, baffling aspect of a fruit fly. Finally it came to rest on a flower where inspection was possible through the magnification of the close-up lens. Indeed it was a tiny insect.

A Perilampus wasp at the tip of a goldenrod cluster

This full-bodied creature with a plan was less than a sixteenth of an inch long. It made a fascinating contrast to the 'bruisers' we looked at in the last posting. As it turns out, they are all wasps.

An enlargement of the wasp astride a 3/16" long flower

The minutely detailed anatomy of the wasp appeared as complex and capable as in larger-scaled insects. Its smooth, shiny shell, or exoskeleton distinguished it from the hairy body and legs of bees. Exoskeletons support and protect the bodies of insects, anchor their muscles, and prevent desiccation.

A 1/8" long braconid wasp

Other bits of animated dust fluttered near the goldenrod. Until it alighted on a flower this braconid wasp looked very much like the Perilampus. Close observation revealed a bit larger and more intricate structure. The long appendage at its rear is an ovipositor, the device by which females implant their eggs.

Cocoons of a braconid wasp on a Sphinx moth caterpillar

During the summer this Sphinx Moth caterpillar was victimized by a braconid wasp. When the eggs hatch the larvae slowly consume their host.

Braconid wasp

The wasp explored the flower surfaces with inquisitive antennae. The fine functioning of its tiny parts replicated the vast and varied sophistication of the whole animal kingdom.