Mimic

Today's walk took us round Mapperley reservoir and, though the weather wasn't as bright as yesterday, it was still a nice morning.  as we walked through the woodland around the reservoir, a small beetle caught my eye, creeping around a Hogweed flower-head.

It turned out to be a Wasp Beetle (Clytus arietus).  Quite a good wasp mimic with it's yellow stripes across the  wing cases, it also acts like a wasp, moving in jerky movements, rapidly stopping and starting as a wasp would do.

The Wasp Beetle feeds on rotting wood while in it's larval stages but the adults feed on nectar and pollen from flowers despite the fearsome-looking jaws it was sporting which looked like they belonged to a more predatory species.  Another new 'tick' for my life list.  Malcolm wasn't as impressed as I was by the discovery of another 'creepy-crawly'!