"Dave Poole" wrote in message
...
Des Higgins wrote:

There is a whole slew (well maybe 100 species in the UK; I cannot
remember
more precise numbers) of "solitary wasps" which look roughly like social
wasps although most are smaller and neater looking.

Cheers Des, there have been up to 20 or more flying about in a
relatively small area - hence my thoughts that they may be a social
species. However, social wasps such as the English wasp tend to
follow reasonably well defined flight paths to the nest, making it
easy to discover its whereabouts. This little wasps are quite
haphazard in that respect and do not appear to be going in any
particular direction. Having watched them for a day or so, I suspect
they each have their own nesting spots within the old wall and the
size of the population is purely coincidental.


These are very nice insects as a group. They do not sting or hang around
barbecues and some of them have extraordinary behaviours. I once tried to
get into them as a kid but I could only ever find one or two at a time and
gave up after a while.
Anyway, enjoy them :-)

Des


I had a look at that URL you suggested and one of the pics of an
Ancistrocerus species is fairly close in terms of body shape, colour
and configuration. The only difference appear to be the colour of the
antennae. So a mason or potter's wasp is probably about as close as I
can get to it. Many thanks.


Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November