By the end of June, the mason bees and their predators and parasites on the old spruce stump were pretty much gone. But now it's an active place again. A crabronid wasp (Trypoxylon) is nesting in a drilled hole, as are two species of Megachilid bees. I also noticed a small black bee as it was leaving a tiny beetle(?) hole. And a cuckoo wasp was exploring the nesting sites of the new occupants. Since they were all moving a bit too fast to photograph, I captured them in vials, cooled them down, took some pictures, and released them. Hope they find their way back to the stump.
Caught when leaving a hole in a spruce stump. It had briefly inspected several holes before entering the one in which it was caught. Cooled, photographed, and released. (Before I could get enough pictures!)
Captured on spruce stump, cooled and photographed. Length 9 mm
Caught leaving small beetle(?) hole in spruce stump. Length 6 mm
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