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[VIDEO AND PHOTOS TAKEN: SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2024 | Video and Image IDs: A video and two photos of a red/orange and black rusty spider wasp digging rapidly through sandy soil, covered in grains of sand /End IDs.]
Tachypompilus ferrugineus, the rusty spider wasp! This lovely lady is preparing a burrow for her young :]
Today's wasp of the day is the two-colored orange spider wasp (Heterodontonyx bicolor)!
Credits: photo 1, photo 2
Females of this Halloween-coded species are nearly twice as big as the males. She has to be big though to hunt and carry her spiders of choice: huntsman and wolf spiders, aka the big burly ones that are often even bigger than she is. These wasps are also capable of a real whopper of a sting, though they are unlikely to sting humans as their chief concern is the spider grind.
More works in progress. Insects and spring ephemerals.
Saw this stunning pompilid wasp dragging a large orb weaver back to her nest yesterday. Look at those wings!!!
my steak is too juicy. my lobster is too buttery. my spider is too fat to fit into my little burrow
A pair of flying milkweed fans. Not sure if they’re the same species or not! I was thinking tarantula hawk of some sort but not sure.
Southern California - Santa Monica Mountains
The dude in the third photo is a different species, but it's not clear enough for me to ID. And the first fella is a spider wasp in the family Pompilidae, and could be a tarantula hawk wasp in the genus Pepsis but Entypus unifasciatus looks VERY similar. I'm definitely not skilled enough to to ID exact species in that family when you have so many similar ones in your area.
I got a gorgeous shot of what I believe to be a Spider Wasp on some Queen Anne's Lace today. This honestly came out way better than I could have imagined.
40 of 48. It was a tough decision, but I sacrificed one wasp on my list so that I could include this Sphictostethus gravesii in defensive posture instead. Its wings are so cute, and it's too cool and showy to leave out in my opinion, even though it's yet another Pompilid. Next on my list is Evania appendigaster, so that should be interesting!
