On a trip to Belize, Central America in 2004 I found the three pictured wasps sitting completely immobile for several minutes. They were each about five centimetres long.

I later showed the picture to some people in a local village and they told me they were Strangler Wasps, that I was very lucky not to get stung because their venom constricts your throat, sometimes killing young children. I saw first hand how upset the people of the village got when one came around, they grabbed sticks, chased the creature down and killed it.

A quick web search for the term 'strangler wasp' brings up nothing.

I know this might appear to be a rediculous question, but it seems a little odd that a creature with compound eyes on the sides of it's head would have to turn its face directly towards an object to see it. I know this is an action that's generally associated with predators, in order to focus on pray, but the eyes of a mantis have neither the structure nor position of say, those of a wolf or a cat. And I never see other insects doing this, predators or otherwise.

Also, exactly why is it that a praying mantis' eyes darken when deprived of light, when again this is not something (at least as far as I have seen, and believe me, I spent the better part of my life catching and observing insects) that appears to be common in insects.

These are the photographs of a strange bug I came across during my stay in Manipur state of North East India. The dorsal view of the insect resembles a human face.  This semblance to human face doesn't appear to be by chance. What evolutionary advantage could have favored such an adaptation.

These are the photographs of a strange bug I came across during my stay in Manipur state of North East India. The dorsal view of the insect resembles a human face.  This semblance to human face doesn't appear to be by chance. What evolutionary advantage could have favored such an adaptation.

Having just watched a TV programme called QI 

A question came up 

What came first Spiders or fly's 

Unfortunately they did not answer it.

Anybody? 

Where does it come from, what does it turn into and what was it doing pottering around my roses?

Paul Martlew, Wildwood, Staffordshire, UK

While in Costa Rica we were visited by this beast (see photo). It was about the size of a cigarette packet, could fly (but not very well), and dogs seemed nervous of it.

We haven't managed to identify it and neither could locals or tour guides. We're not even sure what sort of insect it is. Can any of your readers help?

Xavier Gallagher, London, UK

I recently saw this collection of pond skaters on our garden pond (see photo, left). Can anyone tell me what they were doing and why they adopted this strange formation?

Dominic Cox, Enfield, Middlesex, UK