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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Spider Wasps, Velvet Ants and allies (Pompiloidea) » Spider Wasps (Pompilidae)
Photo#453528
What kind of wasp si this?
Copyright © 2010 TheHackster

What kind of wasp si this?
Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia, USA
September 10, 2010
So black its wings were blue.

Anyone know what kind of wasp this is?

Hack

Images of this individual: tag all
What kind of wasp si this? What kind of wasp si this?
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Contributed by TheHackster on 10 September, 2010 - 8:10pm
Last updated 25 September, 2010 - 9:09pm

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… John F. Carr, 25 September, 2010 - 9:09pm login or register to post comments

Spider Wasp?
I have seen a similar species here. They are active wasps that search out spiders to paralyze with a sting. They take the paralyzed spiders to nest burrows in the earth, where they lay an egg in the burrow and seal it up with the spider. When the egg hatches, the larvae has a fresh meal! I think the spurs on the legs are to help the female keep a hold on fairly large spiders as she carries them home. I love spiders, but I can't deny a wasp's baby it's food. They are very rare to sting, and the sting causes no more than a painful lesson. They are very beautiful!
… Cassie Novak, 10 September, 2010 - 9:39pm login or register to post comments

 
Spider Wasp? thanks for the s
Spider Wasp? thanks for the suggestion. Before I read your thought, I did some more research and was thinking it might be a Great Black Wasp - Sphex pensylvanicus. It was only a little longer than about an inch - certainly not 2 inches.

Any idea on that?

Hack
… TheHackster, 10 September, 2010 - 9:48pm login or register to post comments

 
it
certainly does look like Sphex pensylvanicus but I trust Eric Eaton more than myself on wasp IDs!
… Molly Jacobson, 10 October, 2010 - 4:03pm login or register to post comments

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