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Photo#155305
Orange Wasp - Sphex lucae

Orange Wasp - Sphex lucae
Lake Roosevelt, Ferry County, Washington, USA
July 3, 2007
This appears to lack tibial serrations... Priocnemis perhaps? What a mouth!

Images of this individual: tag all
Orange Wasp - Sphex lucae Orange Wasp - Sphex lucae

Moved

Sphex?
This might be a female Sphex (subgenus Fernaldina) lucae, not an uncommon species up there. I have found Palmodes to be far less abundant, and more 'stocky' in appearance. Cannot rule out a species of Podalonia, though....

 
Sphex/Podalonia
I uploaded a different view of the same wasp and linked it (thanks, Eric, for the tip by the way). The survey I mentioned below lists several Podalonia and also (subgenus Fernaldina) lucae.

I see quite a few orange/black Podalonia in this location too, along with some chunky Sphex ichneumoneus and very large Ammophila.

Sphecid Wasp (Sphecidae)
Shape of pronotum and petiolus (waist between thorax and abdomen) exclude any Pompilidae (on the other hand, the darker specimen you posted just after this one is a Pompilid). BTW, Priocnemis is a member of the Pepsinae subfamily and does have tibial serrations.
Although forewing venation is not close enough to tell for sure, I'd suggest a member of the Sphecini tribe, maybe a Palmodes sp. Seems to be new for BG at any rate.

 
Moving too fast...
I mixed up the priocnemis comment with another photo I was uploading though I confess the petiolus escaped me as I jumped to my spider wasp conclusion anyway. Ugh. I need to work more before uploading...sorry about that. Anyway, there's a pretty comprehensive survey I sometimes refer to from the north in BC, similar and relatively close to this locale-- this survey lists a few Palmodes including Palmodes carbo from Okanagan/Osoyoos and Palmodes hesperus from Oliver. The former reportedly hunts jerusalem crickets, which are in my area and the latter, katydids, which are surprisingly common.

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