Oak wasp butterfly on flower
The oak wasp butterfly (Synanthedon vespiformis) is a butterfly of the family wasp or glass wasp butterflies (Sesiidae). The wingspan is 18 to 20 millimeters.
As the name suggests, the oak wasp butterfly looks more like a wasp than a butterfly; this is also called mimicry. The colour is predominantly black with yellow transverse bands on the abdomen, on the thorax there is a yellow stripe on both sides. The legs are yellow but the 'knees' are black. At the tip of the abdomen there is a brushy tuft of hair, which usually makes it easy to recognize the sex. Females have a predominantly yellow tuft, males a black tuft, the specimen on the picture is a male.
The butterfly occurs in large parts of the Palearctic region and is common in large parts of Europe. In the Netherlands and Belgium it is a rather rare species of which especially in the Veluwe some observations have been made. The habitat consists of deciduous forests, mostly oak forests because of the preference for the oak as food for the larvae.
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Mijn naam is Petra Vastenburg en ik heb als grote passie fotografie en dan met name natuur en landschapsfotografie. Na het volgen van een aantal cursussen ben ik mij steeds blijven verdiepen en zo volg ik nog steeds regelmatig workshops en lezingen. Ik woon in Nijkerk waar één..
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