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Blue wasp?
or blue hornet? sort of powder blue, almost sky blue.
Nice site. Very cool indeed.
TL (So. Cal.)

Hi TL,
Nice photo of a Sand Wasp, Bembix species. It is a new species for our site. According to Hogue they are: “Also known as Digger Wasps, these insects are recognizable by their stout shape and greenish-white or bluish-white abdominal markings. … Sand Wasps are characteristic inhabitants of dry sandy areas such as beach bluffs and mesas, sand dunes, and arroyos. … The nests are shallow tubes running obliquely into the soil; each contains a single larva, which the female keeps supplied with a diet of fresh flies and other insects. In practicing this form of continuous provisioning of the larvae, sand wasps differ from spider wasps, mud daubers, and many other digging wasps, which provide only a single cache of food that must last throughout the larva’s development. Sand Wasps are not social insects, as are hornets and yellow jackets; yet, as a result of the tendency of individuals to nest in the same area, a type of colony develops.” The Western Sand Wasp, Bembix comata, is a common species.

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