Every Wednesday the Wizards of the Greenway try to share a cool wasp fact! https://westmeadows.art/Waspaganda Wed, 11 Nov 2026 07:41:00 -0500 20000 Did you potter and mason wasps have a sybiotic relationship with mites? It isn't known if the mites are helpfull to the wasps, but two genera (Parancistrocerus and Monobia) have a special chamber in their abdomen called an acarinarium that provides the little mites a dwelling. These mites are passed from males to females when they mate and the mites later migrate to the eggs the female lays. These mites feed on the wasp larva but do not kill them, they just poke a little hole in their tough cuticle and slurp on their wasp juices a bit. Wierdly, in atleast one species, the female wasp larva eventually eat the mites that dwell in their brood cell, but males do not. This allows the mites to catch a ride when the male wasp is ready to emerge, thus continuing the cycle. https://westmeadows.art/Waspaganda Wed, 11 Nov 2026 07:41:00 -0500