A Waiting Move

In chess a situation may arise where the best move is a non move, something that doesn't attack the opponent, something that doesn't damage the position of the pieces, perhaps a simple pacing back and forth of king or queen or rook. This procedure is called a waiting move. Most often this stalling tactic is employed while waiting for the opponent to commit a pawn or piece to a certain plan and reveal something of their future plan.

This idea finds uses in our day to day lives as well. There are many examples. And today it occurred to me that a waiting move has application to wasp watching as well. Locating the nesting sites of the hunting wasps is the first step. Being present and witnessing the wasps returning with their prey requires a little luck and a lot of patience. Practice from earlier wasp-watching vigils paid off today, as I was able to witness three different kinds of hunting wasp return with their prey. First, at a sand pile, amid a swirl of Four-belted Stinkbug Hunters, one wasp out of the dozens present dropped out of flight and landed directly in front of me carrying a stinkbug. Second, while stalking back and forth across the gravel base lines and infield of a practice field, keeping an eye on the various active nests, one of the Buprestid Hunters landed near its nest with a large Buprestid beetle. Third, a Cicada Killer returning to it's nest with a Dog-day Cicada.

The latter observation was something I'd been wishing to see for some years. I suspected I'd been missing the return flight of these large hunting wasps because I visited their nesting sites too late in the day, after their labors were complete. Today I arrived early, at 10:00 AM.

Posted on August 1, 2017 03:42 AM by scottking