#thread-waisted wasp

[ratbugs]

is she building a sand castle? 🏰 🏖️

Ammophila wrightii

Ammophila wrightii from San Diego County, CA, USA on September 21, 2025 at 04:12 PM by Marshal Hedin. first observed removing sand from bur

[oh-he-grows]

spotted at the nursery, I love seeing these guys

[northerlyy]

Thread-waisted Wasp (Ammophila pictipennis), taken September 3, 2025, in Georgia, US

A medium-sized wasp watching me from where it rests on some grass seeds! There were several of these wasps flitting around a small yucca patch, inspecting the leaves and possibly looking for prey that prefers to live there. I believe this specific wasp was a male because it was small and not actively searching the leaves like the others, but I can't be 100% sure as I didn't get to see it right next to a lady for size comparison! Regardless, these wasps are very pretty with their ombre orange and black wings, and I'm always happy to see them as they're a bit uncommon in my area. Sadly, they hardly sit still, so this was the only good photo I got, but there's always next time!

[miyrumiyru]

Thread-waisted wasp with red thigh and big butt ♥️

(F) 홍다리조롱박벌 (Isodontia harmandi)

Tatarian Aster (Aster tataricus)

[textless]

One day early in the trip, I was sick and stayed around my tent all day. It wasn't nice to be sick, but the surroundings were beautiful, birds were singing, and it was a chance to poke around and look at bugs.

When I first saw this wasp, it had immobilized the green caterpillar and hauled it to a sandy spot right next to the tent. When I circled back a while later, it had stuffed the caterpillar in a hole and buried it with pebbles. Just like home!

Masai Mara, Kenya, July 2023.

[dolicho-vespula]

finally saw a thread-waisted wasp! gold-marked thread-waisted wasp (Eremnophila aurenotata) taking a sippy.

bonus: one chilling with other bugs in the bg

[platycryptus]

this thread-waisted sand wasp (Ammophila sp.) i encountered on 9/8/19 is carrying a paralyzed Datana caterpillar to one of her burrows to be consumed by a larva.

I’m unsure why she climbed to the top of a grass stalk and rested there for several minutes, but it could’ve been related to assessing her surroundings or breaking up the scent trail left by dragging the caterpillar.

Interestingly, sand wasps and other digging wasps memorize visual landmarks to remember where their burrows are located. This diagram shows an old experiment where moving a circle of pine cones previously placed around the burrow temporarily confused the wasp:

It’s since been shown that visual landmarks (as well as the position of the sun to remember the general location of the nest, something even ants with their poor vision and heavy dependence on scent trails sometimes use) also play a role in the navigation of similar insects such as honeybees. But unlike social species, solitary wasps can’t afford to also locate their nest using scent, since leaving an odor would make the unattended burrow vulnerable to predators (and other sand wasps of the same species who will commandeer another’s burrow given the chance). Using memorized landmarks ensures that only the wasp that made the burrow knows where it is.

So, it seems thet digging wasps are entirely reliant on visual and tactile cues to find the exact location of their hidden nests (I’ve witnessed them covering their burrow with rocks and soil to conceal it, then rake through the soil with their legs to find it again).

Sand wasps are also among the few animals documented to use tools- they grab small stones with their mandibles and use them to tamp down the soil they dig up to make their burrow location less obvious.

here’s a pic showing the tool use behavior (not my photo, copyright Jeremy Early- http://www.natureconservationimaging.com/Pages/nature_conservation_imaging_heathland1_Ammophila.php)

[michael-massa-micon]

Thread-Waisted Wasp - July 2019 Van Meter State Park, Miami MO I took the first two images in the parking lot for the Missouri Overlook Trail. Later, Kathy took two images of a similar wasp in the gravel at our campsite. When I took the image, I thought it was some form of small damselfly, but looking at the image later, I realized that it was a wasp. A little research on the internet showed me it was a Thread-Waisted Wasp, one of the digger wasps which make their nests in the ground. My images show the head and wings much better, while Kathy’s images show the body, including the yellow spots which are not really visible from above. In any of the four images, there is a beautiful terror to this small insect. It’s not much of a threat to someone the size of a human, but to small worm or other insect it is a flying lion. MWM