29 Oct 2020 FILM DIARY
A few days ago I was talking to a resident of our unit block when I noticed a potter wasp daubing mud on the concrete in front of the neighbouring garage door. It didn’t look like the species Abispa splendida I had filmed over the years working on its nest at a friend’s nearby property. And so it proved, when I filmed and photographed it on the 25th. By the time I filmed it today, the wasp had been identified by an entomologist at the Queensland Museum as Delta Latreillei. He was mystified by its daubing behaviour on the ground. There is little general online information about the wasp, which is mainly found in northern parts of the country, with isolated populations in southern areas, Tasmania excepted. A friend speculated that the wasp may have been disoriented because it was impaired. PS On 2.11.20 I photographed what looked like a properly constructed brood cell, with two abandoned circular bases next to it. I also emailed the entomologist, asking if he knew a specialist who might explain what is happening.