Blue-eyed Ensign Wasp

A Blue-eyed Ensign Wasp in Hawaii
A Blue-eyed Ensign Wasp in Hawaii

I see these wasps quite often, flitting about, with the little black abdominal part on the stalk vibrating noticeably. However, it wasn’t until recently that I identified them.

This is a Blue-eyed Ensign Wasp (Evania appendigaster) and it’s considered a beneficial insect because it’s a parasitoid, which lays it’s eggs in the eggs of cockroaches. The wasp’s offspring feed off the cockroach eggs, which results in a few less cockroaches in the neighborhood.

Alas, we do not appear to be running out of cockroaches, or seem likely to do so in the immediate future.

Pueo takeoff

A pueo watches from a hillside in Hawaii

I was driving the mountain road back to Hawi, when I saw this Pueo flying. I pulled over, but didn’t see it again, until I realized it was perched on a rock on the hillside above. It was watching me.

A pueo takes off from a hillside in Hawaii
A pueo takes off from a hillside in Hawaii

I took some photos and was lucky enough to catch the bird taking off, before heading over a ridge and out of sight.

The Numbers Game #42

Two Humpback whales swim in the waters off Hawaii
A pair of Humpback Whales off the North Kohala coast.

The idea of The Numbers Game is to enter a number into the search bar of your computer and then post a selection of the photos that turn up. This week’s number is 163. Captions are on the photos. You can see more responses here.

The flowers of a milo tree in Hawaii
Milo flowers.
Walking Iris.
A dead tree on the slopes of Mauna Kea
Dead tree on the side of Mauna Kea.
Hilina Pali Trail in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
Hilina Pali Trailhere
Many fish make the reef home
Reef fish.
Two Step, a popular snorkeling spot.

Go Mango

A large Mango tree in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Leaves and Trees.’ See more responses here.

This is a look at the Mango tree in my yard. It’s more than 40 feet high and has a diameter of 50 feet or more. The top photo was taken about a week ago. The first photo in the gallery below was taken a week before that. The new leaves are red, but quickly turn a glossy green. Older leaves are dark green.

A large Mango tree in Hawaii
The leaves of a Mango tree in Hawaii
A mango tree in bloom
Mangoes on a tree in Hawaii

The tree will eventually bloom with clusters of small creamy flowers, followed by clumps of fruit, much to the delight of the wild pigs here. Mind you, they have to be careful, as do I, because, when the wind blows, branches fall from the tree, some of them big enough to do damage.

A large branch that fell from a Mango tree in Hawaii