Trichogramma in flight

Parasitic wasps of the genus Trichogramma lay their eggs inside the eggs of other insects (see here for a vid). As such, they are very small, typically less than 1mm in length and are known to hitch hike on their host insects to get around (this is more complicated than it sounds - see this excellent 'Not Exactly Rocket Science' post for more detail).

However the reason behind this post is not to discuss the fascinating habits of these tiny insects but to point out a news item on the Flight Artists from Wageningen University, who have used a high-speed camera (apparently 22,000 frames per second) to capture Trichogramma in flight.

This is well worth a quick look, not least because it shows that they can beat their wings at 350 strokes per second but they also appear prone to landing on their faces!

Watch the video here.