Odd wasp in enclosure

[thatrebecca]

A long, thin, yellow striped wasp makes his home in our DT enclosure. He's not aggressive, and there appears to be only the one. He comes out when I water the plants. I don't want to get close enough to photograph him, but here are some of the small holes I presume belong to him. I'm inclined to leave him alone -- I think he eats the bugs who orherwise eat the Testudo mix. Any theories as to what he might be?

 

[dmmj]

There are 100,000 wasp species out there.They like to eat bugs,so you know.

 

[ascott]

If those insects are Black and yellow and they around two inches long, relax; those are the famous cicada-killing wasps and they have no interest in stinging you. The males don’t have stingers, and the rarely-seen females often won’t even sting when provoked! And besides, their season of dragging giant cicadas into those holes for their young to feed upon is almost done. To prevent their harmless presence NEXT year, keep your ground covered with plants or mulch; they only make their solitary nests in bare soil.

If those insects are under an inch long, however, do NOT relax. Those are yellowjackets, a type of highly aggressive wasp, not a bee. Although technically beneficial because they eat pest insects, yellowjackets are responsible for almost all of the so-called ‘bee sting deaths’ in the United States. They like to sting people, each insect can sting repeatedly, they generally attack in large numbers, and they can bite ya too. They are especially dangerous this time of year. Their nests have gotten HUGE, and the workers are on a constant prowl for food.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada

 

[Yvonne G]

The ones that make a hole in the ground like that have laid one egg in the hole. I've never had those act aggressive towards me or the animals.