Polistes Wasp ? - Cerceris bicornuta

Cerceris bicornuta

This is a female of Cerceris bicornuta. The colour pattern is quite distinctive for a Cerceris. Most eastern Nearctic species are black and yellow (incl. the male of this species!).

… Matthias Buck, 10 April, 2006 - 2:19pm

Weevil-wasp (Cerceris sp.. family Sphecidae)

A female of a robust species, reminding of Mediterranean C. tuberculata.

… Richard Vernier, 2 January, 2006 - 10:03am

Thanks

I was stumped in trying to find a match. Your help is appreciated. Could you recommend a wasp ID book for North America? I have only lived in FL for two years and am amazed at the diversity of wasps here. Lots of learning to do.

… Scott Nelson, 2 January, 2006 - 10:22am

Few references.

Scott, thank you for your submissions and interest in wasps. I wish I could tell you there are excellent field guides out there, but alas, U.S. publishers don't view such things as "sellable." There are keys out there, but it takes some digging to find them, and even then they may not be available for purchase. Still other keys are in the form of unpublished theses. Bohart and Menke's "Sphecid Wasps of the World", is still one of the best references, but I believe it is out of print. The Canadian Ag Department also published "Hymenoptera of the World," which is another excellent, if technical, work. Both books have nice illustrations to help you through they keys.

… Eric R. Eaton, 3 January, 2006 - 2:02pm