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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Great Black Wasp with Katydid prey

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Subject:  Black killer wasp
Geographic location of the bug:  Northern Illinois
Date: 08/16/2018
Time: 04:04 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  These two were battling it out, but the wasp won in the end. I thought it may have been a cicada killer, but this one was all black, maybe a little Blueish.
How you want your letter signed:  Karin

Great Black Wasp and Katydid Prey

Dear Karin,
We are thrilled to be able to post your wonderful images of a female Great Black Wasp and her Katydid prey.  The wasp has stung and paralyzed the Katydid and she it trying to get it back to her underground burrow.  She is probably climbing the table to give her some height so she can take off and glide toward her nest.  According to BugGuide:  “Provision nests (in burrow in soft earth) with Katydids or grasshoppers. ”  Also commonly called Katydid Hunters, these solitary wasp are not aggressive toward humans.

Great Black Wasp and Katydid prey

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Great Golden Digger Wasp

On · Category: Thread Waisted Wasps · 2 Comments

Subject:  Friend or Foe?
Geographic location of the bug:  Pateros , WA
Date: 08/13/2018
Time: 06:16 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This guy was moving among the flowering herbs at edge of garden this weekend.  He looks formidable with extremely long back legs.   What is he?
How you want your letter signed:  Charlene

Great Golden Digger Wasp

Dear Charlene,
This large, impressive wasp is a Great Golden Digger Wasp, a solitary species that is not aggressive toward humans.  Was it moving among the flowering herbs like it was more interested in the flowers or like it was searching for something?  This is a pollinating species that feed on nectar as an adult, but it is carnivorous, but helpless, as a larva.  The female Great Golden Digger Wasp hunts for Katydids among the foliage and when she locates one, she stings it to paralyze it and then drags it back to her subterranean nest as food for her brood.  We vote “friend.”

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Steel Blue Cricket Hunter

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Subject:  Hey Bugman
Geographic location of the bug:  Arizona
Date: 08/11/2018
Time: 09:22 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: I’m filming in southern Arizona and came across this wasp (?) pouncing on a cricket. It had the most vibrant, cobalt blue coloring, almost metallic in its sheen. It was about 1.5” in length.
So tell me: what’s that bug?!
Sincerely,
How you want your letter signed:  Tomás Arceo

Steel Blue Cricket Hunter and Cricket

Dear Tomás,
You had nearly every word in this predator’s name in your letter.  This is a Steel Blue Cricket Hunter, Chlorion aerarium, and it is a marvelous addition to our Food Chain tag.  According to BugGuide:  “Females mass-provision several serial cells, each containing from 2 to 9 nymphs or adults of Gryllus pennsylvanicus. Prey are transported on the ground, venter-up, with the wasp’s mandibles grasping the antennae of the cricket.”
Please do us a favor in the future and submit your images using our standard form that you can access by clicking the Ask WTB? link on our site, though we in no way want to discourage you from submitting such excellent images via normal email channels.  Using our form makes it easier for us to create our postings in a uniform manner.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Great Golden Digger Wasp

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Subject:  Wasp
Geographic location of the bug:  Oregon
Date: 08/04/2018
Time: 08:42 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I have a large wasp like flying creature with a black tip bottom and mostly orange.  They hang around my flowering plants.  About 15-20 mm. Long antenna.  Very scary. Never seen before.
How you want your letter signed:  Deb

Great Golden Digger Wasp

Dear Deb,
This is a Great Golden Digger Wasp.  They are not aggressive and they hunt Katydids, not to eat, but to provision the nest for the young.  Adult Great Golden Digger Wasps are vegan pollinators.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Great Golden Digger Wasp

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Subject:  Insect
Geographic location of the bug:  Near Tobermory, ON Canada
Date: 07/15/2018
Time: 11:33 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Could you please identify this insect?  This is the first time we’ve seen one.
Thank you.
How you want your letter signed:  ~R

Great Golden Digger Wasp

Dear ~R,
The solitary Great Golden Digger Wasp is not an aggressive species.  The female excavates a burrow that she provisions with Katydids and other Orthopterans to serve as food for her brood. 

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Great Golden Digger Wasps with prey

On · Category: Katydids, Thread Waisted Wasps Tagged With: · Add Comment

Subject:  Great Golden Digger Wasps
Geographic location of the bug:  Andover Township, NJ
Date: 07/03/2018
Time: 02:15 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi Daniel,
This is not a question, just a share.  Several days ago, the Great Golden Digger Wasps appeared along our walkway and immediately set about excavating their nest holes.  There was a fair amount of jockeying for position the first day and even a few little skirmishes, but eventually they all got to work.  Today, with nests apparently complete, the whole colony (about a dozen by my count) set out hunting.  Given the docile temperament of these big wasps, I was able to lay right next to several of the nest holes and observe the action up close.  I was interesting to see that one of them came in with what I believe is a Roesel’s Katydid, not a species I’ve counted in my yard before.
Hope you enjoy the photos.
How you want your letter signed:  Deborah

Great Golden Digger Wasp with prey

Dear Deborah,
As always, your images are stunning.  Through the years, you have demonstrated a fondness and appreciation of insects, and we really want to acknowledge that the colony of Great Golden Digger Wasps that nested in your yard is very lucky they chose your property for their home.  We shutter to think what a fearful individual might have done to these docile and beautiful wasps.  For that reason, we are tagging this posting with the Bug Humanitarian Award.  Based on images posted to BugGuide, we concur that the prey in one image appears to be an immature male Roesel’s Katydid.

Female Great Golden Digger Wasp with immature male Roesel’s Katydid prey

Thank you!  I feel very honored!  Discovering the world of insects has been such a wonderful journey for me, and you have helped me so much along the way.

 

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination