Alien Predator

I didn't get out with the camera until the evening as I had spent the day dealing with Mother admin. At least by then the rain had stopped, it had got a bit warmer and the sun had come out. There was still a brisk breeze though which is the bane of macro photography in the field..

I decided to go into the glasshouse and tog asparagus beetles. Amazing how they found our crop as this isn't an asparagus growing area. As I homed in on the beetles I saw some tiny, shiny, metallic blue insects. I thought at first that they were feeding on the immature flower buds. Then it dawned on me that the minuscule wasps were interested in the beetle eggs not the buds. I was so excited, thinking that I had discovered a predator that would be important to commercial asparagus growers. :)

The parasitic wasp Tetrastichus asparagi is not commercially available but where it is present it parasitizes asparagus beetle eggs and can sometimes provide up to 70% control.

The orange colour in my pic is our out of focus mini Kubota rice paddy tractor.