The Ruby tailed wasp(Chrysis ignita) is perhaps one of our most colourful of insects, viewed fro certain angles to the sun. Like most wasps, it is harmless to man and it is attracted to dead wood where mason bees nest, where it then parasitises them.
Another common wasp to be found is the sand wasp (Ammorphila sabulosa), this species parisitises non hairy caterpillars and stuffs them into a burrow which the wasp makes. It may lay just one egg on each larvae. The larvae are not killed but paralyzed by its sting and the animal is eaten alive by the growing wasp larvae.
