A casualty of a hornet, but great photo op

Cygnus Studios

Once again I was enjoying one of Richmond Virginia's finest tobacco products on my back deck when this little guy decided to stop my hummingbird feeder. Unfortunately he did not see the Hornet that has been visiting recently. In an instant the Hornet jumped on this guy and they both hit the ground fast.

I ran inside and grabbed the camera and went back for shots. The hornet did not stay when I shoved the camera in his face, but this poor little guy was a goner.

Photog4Christ

Ummmmm.... What is it? Why did the hornet take it out?

Cygnus Studios

Not sure if it is a Honey bee or a hoverfly. They both look similar to me. As to why the Hornet attacked it, I have no idea. It was amazing to see. I have never seen anything like it.
I am not 100% sure, but it darn sure looked like it was trying to eat this guy when I shoved the camera in its face.
The whole scene took seconds.

Lord Vetinari

Ah- poor bee - good shots. Many colonial wasps/hornets are insectivorus/carnivorus- they feed chewed up bits to the larvae.
One of the best wasp attractors is a piece of raw fish.

Pic of a median wasp attacking a butterfly below- the wasp chased the butterfly into a spider web and continued to attck it there- eventually the wings came off and the wasp freed a large chunk of butterfly body from the web and flew off.

Brian V.