Now you have to bear with me on this one.

This is a wasp, but not an ordinary wasp. It is not the least bit interested in humans, a gentle giant and solitary by nature. This is a female, about 4.5cm long with a yellow head. The male is slightly smaller with a black head. It actually looks like a larger, longer bumble bee. It is fluffy, and glossy black with two yellow bands across its back. It is the Mammoth Wasp, Scolia Flavifrons. It feeds on flower nectar and the larvae of Rhinoceros Beetles, which is good with me. Owing to its latter chosen food stuff, it is most often found around rotten tree stumps.

This one sat on the wall beside the pool, without moving, for an hour, before flying into the water, paddling around, then crawling out again. We haven’t seen her since, presumably she is in a rotten tree stump somewhere.

5 to remember
gigantesco/a – mammoth
las larvas – the larvae
un gigante gentil – a gentle giant
un abejorro – a bumble bee
el néctar – the nectar

‘Concise Insect Guide’ [UK: Bloomsbury]

And if you’d like to tweet a link to THIS post, here’s my suggested tweet:
This is a wasp, but not an ordinary wasp: it’s not interested in humans #Insects in #Spain http://wp.me/p3dYp6-1N7 via @Spanish_Valley