Subject:  Great Black Wasps
Geographic location of the bug:  Andover Township, NJ
Date: 07/29/2019
Time: 06:11 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I was out in my pollinator garden this afternoon and noticed a huge Great Black Wasp on the mountain mint.  A very exciting discovery as I rarely see them.  And then, I started noticing that there were maybe a half dozen of them in the garden! I am hopeful that this means a colony is getting established somewhere on our property.  I already have a nice colony of Great Golden Diggers, so have Black Wasps would be a bonus.  A few photos below.
How you want your letter signed:  Deborah E Bifulco

Great Black Wasp

Dear Deborah,
Your Great Black Wasp images are awesome.  That is exciting to learn you may have a stable population of this incredible predator in your vicinity.  Daniel sees Great Golden Digger Wasps every summer on onion flowers and chives flowers, and there is a healthy population of Katydids in the garden as well, but last year was the first time he had a Great Black Wasp sighting on a wild sunflower, but alas, he had no camera handy.

Great Black Wasp

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Subject:  What is this blue thin but large looking beetle
Geographic location of the bug:  Santa Clarita CA
Date: 09/03/2018
Time: 12:30 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Can you identify? About 3+ inches long and on the “slender” vs. full beetle shape
How you want your letter signed:  Kat

Steel Blue Cricket Hunter

Dear Kat,
This is not a Beetle.  It is a Steel Blue Cricket Hunter, Chlorion aerarium, a Wasp in the family Sphecidae.  According to BugGuide:  “Although generally not closely associated with humans, they are found wherever their hosts (Gryllus crickets) are found, which could include close proximity to homes.”  We believe “3+ inches long” is an exaggeration, as BugGuide states:  “~25 mm.”

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Subject:  Regular visitor to mountain mint
Geographic location of the bug:  SW Indiana
Date: 08/19/2018
Time: 10:40 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Would appreciate an ID on this large insect visiting our mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) plants
How you want your letter signed:  Paul

Thread-Waisted Wasp

Dear Paul,
This is a Thread-Waisted Wasp in the family Sphecidae, but we are having trouble identifying its species.  It looks similar to individuals in the genus Sphex pictured on BugGuide, including the Great Golden Digger Wasp, but its abdominal color and white facial and thoracic markings are quite different.  Perhaps one of our readers will provide assistance.

Thanks! I found a Sphex habenus that was close but am not 100% on that ID.

That is the same species that Cesar Crash commented regarding.

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