Diving Wasps

Diving wasps spend much of their life as predominately terrestrial insects in a wetland habitat. They are often found laying among the vegetation or resting on it. They are small wasps and are often missed entirely by the casual visitor to the wetland environment. Their inclusion in a study of wetland entomology is due in part to their reproductive requirements. The female diving wasp, at the time of reproduction, either swims or crawls into the water, seeks out the pupal stages of other insects, and ova-deposits the next generation of diving wasps into the larva. This paracitic approach guarantees a nutrient rich food supply for the developing young as well as providing them protection from environmental change and some predation.