Cuckoo wasp (Chrysis fuscipennis)

A wonderful subject of macro photography is the colorful insects around us. The beautiful metallic blue-green insect that you see in your photos is known to the common people as the 'Cuckoo wasp' or Kokil Bolata. Just as cuckoo birds lay their eggs in the nests of other species, these wasps also lay their eggs in the nests of other species of wasps, hence their beautiful name. Their bodies sparkle like precious gems or jewels in the sunlight.

​Scientific name:
According to the scientific classification of biology, the scientific name of this attractive wasp is Chrysis fuscipennis. In various studies by scientists, this species is often considered a synonym or synonym for Chrysis angolensis.

Family and Genus:
The cuckoo wasp is a wonderful member of the vast Arthropoda phylum and Insecta class of the animal kingdom. According to the classification made by scientists, they belong to the Chrysididae family under the Hymenoptera order. Their genus or genus name is Chrysis. The genus was first named by scientist Carl Linnaeus in 1761. The name comes from the Greek word 'chrysis', which means 'golden vessel' or 'cloth woven with golden thread'. Such a royal name has been given because of the bright metallic color of their body. There are more than a thousand species under this genus.

​Size and body structure:
Compared to ordinary wasps, their body structure is quite different and attractive. A wonderful mixture of very bright metallic bluish-green and golden colors can be seen all over their body, but their wings are quite black or dark in color. Their defense mechanism is very amazing. These wasps are completely stingless, meaning they do not have a sting. When they face any danger or are scared, they roll up their very hard shelled body into a round ball. As a result, no other predator or host wasp can bite or sting them.

​Habitat and Habitat:
In terms of geographical distribution, these dog wasps live over a large part of the world. They are widely found in North America, India and various parts of the Old World. They usually prefer to live alone or solitary. They are often seen roaming around the locality, in the cracks of wood or near the nests of other wasps.

​Food:
Although they usually survive by drinking nectar from various flowers as adults, their larval diet is completely different. They are mainly known as kleptoparasites or parasites. They do not collect their own larval food, but depend on the food collected by other species of wasps.

​Reproduction:
Their reproduction process is one of the strangest phenomena in nature. A mother cuckoo wasp does not build a nest of her own, but sneaks into the open or unprotected nest of another species of wasp (such as the mud dauber wasp, which makes its nest with mud) and lays her eggs there. After the eggs hatch, the cuckoo wasp larvae or babies emerge, which eat the larvae of the original owner of the nest and all the food stored for them.

​Benefits:
These cuckoo wasps play a very important role in our environment's ecosystem. They help to naturally control the population of certain species of wasps. In addition, their beautiful colors and structure are a great attraction for nature lovers and photographers.

Harmfulness: This beautiful insect is not harmful to humans. They are very docile and do not bite or cause any harm to humans as they do not have a stinger. They are considered harmful only to their specific host.

I hope you like the information.

I learned about them from various sites including iNaturalist, Wikipedia and Google.

_{​*(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.) *}
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Camera Used	Samsung SM-G973F
F-Stop	F2.4
ISO speed	ISO
Focal length	26mm
Flash	No
Editing app	Lightroom
Photography	(Chrysis fuscipennis)
Photographer	@mshbd
Location	Natore, Bangladesh