It's been a while since my last post, I am easily distracted. Partly to blame has been my moving into my new apartment, no longer am I under the benevolent and comforting roof of Mr & Mrs B, whose flat I departed like a teenager leaving home. No more gift pomegranates nor free Wi-Fi, I must man-up and fend for myself. The tourists here have become more plentiful since around Easter, emerging dazed and blinking from their hotels into the Gozo sunshine, the temperature continues to rise and the sea is just about warm enough to be swimmable again. Summer has arrived.
![Picture](/uploads/2/4/9/4/24949670/6456337.jpg?480)
So, while out fending for myself I came across this monster. It's a Mammoth Wasp, Megascolia bidens. The bright red/orange head and antennae distinguish it from other species with yellow heads. It's huge, as the name suggests, the largest wasp in Europe, the one in the picture is about 5cm long but they grow up to 6cm. They feed on nectar and parasitize the larva of rhinoceros beetles, paralysing it with a sting and laying an egg inside it. The wasp larva will then eat its unfortunate host until it emerges, Alien-style, from the body of the now dead beetle larva. Thankfully they are solitary and seemingly non-aggressive, which I guess you can afford to be if you're that size.