Categories
Thread Waisted WaspsBlue sand digging wasp?
Hi there bug guys.
I am from Ontario, Canada and was out in my driveway yesterday and noticed this blue waspy looking bug digging in a pile of sand. It was quite a sight. He would go in and appear a moment later with a ball of sand under him, which he would then shove out from underneath himself before going right back at it again. He was a pretty little bug too. Shiny blue wings on an almost ant like body. I was wondering if you would be able to identify him for me and maybe explain what he was doing digging so ferociously in the sand as he was. Thanks so much,
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
When your Cricket Hunter, Chlorion aerarium, finishes her nest, she will provision it with paralyzed crickets and related insects and lay her eggs. You can look at BugGuide and the Cricket Hunter Wasp page for more information on these digging wasps.
Correction: (08/01/2008)
Daniel:
The cricket hunter wasp from Ontario is actually the “great black wasp,” Sphex pennsylvanicus, most likely. Hard to definitively exclude Podalonia, but I am quite certain it is that Sphex species. She’ll bring katydids, not crickets, back to the burrow.
Eric
I like ThisRelated Posts
-
(07/17/2005)Great Golden Digger Wasp -
(06/20/2008)Great Golden Digger Wasp -
(08/18/2009)Great Black Wasp -
(07/27/2011)Great Black Wasp and Great Golden Digger...
Trackbacks & Pingbacks 1
[...] according to BugGuide. Here is a photo by Sarah from Ontario, Canada and also from our archives on July 30th, 2008.Katydid Hunter0 I like ThisRelated Posts (07/30/2008)Great Black Wasp [...]
Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.
Post a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.