Beewolf

I had a wonderful day, meandering around just inside Hampshire with Historian31 looking at it's varied and lovely churches.
They were all beautiful - and very different, from the church with a glass tower at Empshott to the beautiful, disused and overgrown huge church at Privett. The stained glass was amazing too, from Kempe to Whitefriars with everything inbetween depicting saints with Dragons and swords (I always love the windows with saints and dragons!!) and even Saint Michael at the fiery gates of hell! I loved the rhenish helm of Hawkley church so unusual and yet familiar as we have one in Sompting in West Sussex, and I especially loved the new 'dragon' gutters attached to the corners.
All in all a perfect day, but despite this I couldnt help blipping the little Beewolf Philiathus triangulum, I found at Iping common on my way there. The Beewolf  is a striking little wasp that gets it's name from the fact that it catches honey bees and carries them (slung below it's body) back to the nest burrow to feed it's larvae. The dead bees are embalmed with a secretion from the postpharyngeal gland prior to egg laying, thought to delay fungal infection and water loss. 
The Beewolf used to be a Red data species in the UK, but these days it is quite common on sandy soils and heathland in the south. Beewolf species in other countries are regarded as pests, as they can severely affect Honey bee populations, although this isn't thought to be the case in the UK.
I have included a picture of a stained glass window at it's best in my extras - absolutely stunning!!