Species Triscolia ardens

Fire-tailed Scoliid Wasp

Triscolia ardens (Smith 1855)

up to about 30 mm, noticeably larger than S. dubia haematodes

Forewing with three submarginal cells and a single recurrent vein which meets the posterior edge of the 2nd submarginal cell (see diagram here).(1) Wings very dark, violaceous; thorax entirely black; first two abdominal tergites mostly black, the remaining (posterior) tergites red and more bushy-hairy.(2)

Males have a pseudostinger with three narrow spines projecting slightly beyond the tip of abdomen; females lack such spines.

TX, NM, AZ, CA; and south into Mexico.(2)(3)

Desert, e.g. the Mojave and Colorado deserts of California(4)

June to November

Triscolia ardens is presumably the model for the dipteran mimic Mydas ventralis.

Scolia dubia haematodes is nearly identical in coloration but is separated in terms of wing venation and a smaller size.

Comparison of wing venation between Scolia (left) and Triscolia (right). The genus Scolia has 2 submarginal cells whereas the genus Triscolia has 3 submarginal cells.

Betrem J.G., Bradley J.C. (1964). Annotations on the genera Triscolia, Megascolia and Scolia (Hymenoptera, Scoliidae). Zoologische Mededelingen 40: 89-96. (Full text)