these are quite rare apparently

 We've deliberately planted flowers in our garden to attract pollinators, and boy do they visit us.  Bees, hoverflies , beetles and of course many varieties of wasp.

Just the other day, while admiring a geum we have planted (and also praying for some ladybirds to visit the garden to rid it of aphids!) I spotted a really strange looking insect on one of the flower heads.  At first I figured it must be two insects in the act of making more insects, but then realised that no, it was a solitary beastie with a very long (well, around one centimetre) body.

Turns out it was a carrot (or sometimes called an ensign) wasp, and that in my particular part of the UK they can be a rare sight.  Anyway, shortly after another one popped along, only much smaller in length.  Turns out (again) that the longer one is the male of the species while the shorter is the female.

So, now you know, here's what they look like:

Both images: Fujifilm X-H2, Laowa 65mm f2.8 ultra-macro
1/200th of a second at f8, ISO 125
handheld

I've been really busy with my camera in the garden these past few days.  Here's a video showcasing some of the better shots from my endeavours: