The plant depicted above is known in the Americas as Gout Stalk or Buddha's Belly Jatropha podagrica. A member of the Euphorbiaceae family, the plant was discovered in Guatemala and Central America in 1848 and has since been introduced throughout the tropics including Thailand where it is known as Hanuman-nang-tan. The translation literally means Royal Monkey sitting down on a backless chair. The nectar from the flowers of this very exotic plant is highly sought after by many species of butterflies, bees and wasps. In the picture, a Giant Asian Wasp Vespa mandarinia is enjoying a quick sip of nectar.

Serendipitously, I was very fortunate to be able to capture this outstanding picture of the Giant wasp nectaring on Buddha's Belly. Last year, during my travels in Northern Thailand, I stopped overnight in Chiang Dao, a small market town located in the mountains about 90 minutes north of Chiang Mai. I stayed in a small but lovely 3-bedroom teak house located just off the main highway. A friend of a friend owns the house; she goes by the name of Khun Lek. Lek maintains a very beautiful garden replete with a gazebo and a pond and 12 dogs; by the way all the dogs except for one are trained to do "their business" in the bush so as not to spoil her" little piece of Eden". In the early morning, I decided to take some pictures of some of the beautiful flowers and plants in Lek's Garden; I would estimate that there were at least 60 or more different species of ornamental tropical plants. During my 2-hour photo shoot, I saw numerous species of very exotic and colorful butterflies flying around her garden stopping here and there on their favorite nectar plant for a quick boost of energy. Towards the end of my photo shoot, I focused on a peculiar plant that I had seen any a number of places during my travels in Thailand; the plant had lovely red and yellow flowers, somewhat like the Asclepias Incarnata (a Milkweed species from Central America) together with green carbuncle like structures (looked like the gout on somebody's swollen finger) and broad heart-shaped green leaves. Alas, just as I was in the process of tripping the camera shutter to take a picture, a giant wasp alights on the flower for a microsecond to sip some nectar. Click�Viola, and that is how I was able to obtain this once in a lifetime picture!