Categories
Uncategorized

Flat-Tailed Leafcutter Bee

Scientific Name: Megachile mendica  

Family: Megachilidae 

Native Range: United States, Pennsylvania

Size:

Active: Spring – fall

Color and Appearance: Black body with thin lines of hair along abdomen.

Categories
Uncategorized

European Paper Wasp

Scientific Name: Polistes dominula

Family: Vespidae

Native Range: Europe. Invasive in North America, Pennsylvania

Size: Male wing length: 9.5 – 13.0 mm (0.37 to 0.51 in); Females wing length: 8.5 – 12.0 mm (0.33 to 0.47 in)

Active: Over-wintering queens begin nest building in early spring and start laying eggs in early March or April. Nests disperse in late summer. Founder queens and males overwinter.

Color and Appearance: Black and yellow

Categories
Uncategorized

Mexican Grass-Carrying Wasp

Scientific Name: Isodontia mexicana

Family: Sphecidae

Native Range: North America, Pennsylvania*

Size: 18–20 millimetres (0.71–0.79 in)*

Active: Early summer – early fall*

Color and Appearance: “The body is completely black, the thorax is quite hairy and the wings have a smoky-brown color.”*

From iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/203340-Isodontia-mexicana)

Categories
Uncategorized

Rusty Spider Wasp

Scientific Name: Tachypompilus ferrugineus

Family: Pompilidae

Native Range: North, Central, and South America, Pennsylvania*

Size: 15–25 mm (0.59–0.98 in)*

Active:

Color and Appearance: “A mostly reddish-brown wasp, with four narrow dark bands circling the abdomen, and with violet-blue wings.”*

Rusty spider wasps prey on spiders, especially wolf spiders.*

*From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachypompilus_ferrugineus)

Categories
Uncategorized

Polistes Wasp

Scientific Name: Polistes sp.

Family: Vespidae

Native Range: Species native to North America and Europe, Pennsylvania*

Size:

Active:

Color and Appearance: Yellow and black*

*From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polistes)

Categories
Uncategorized

Noble Scoliid Wasp

Scientific Name: Scolia nobilitata

Family: Scoliidae

Native Range: Southern United States, Pennsylvania

Size: 10-15 mm (0.39 – 0.59 in)

Active: Summer – early fall

Color and Appearance: “Small scoliid with dark wings and reddish legs; abdomen dark with 4-6 light yellow/orange spots”*

*From BugGuide.net (https://bugguide.net/node/view/26760)

Categories
Uncategorized

Four-Banded Stink Bug Hunter Wasp

Scientific Name: Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus

Family: Crabronidae

Native Range: Eastern North America, Pennsylvania*

Size: 17-19 mm (0.67 – 0.75 in)*

Active: Summer – Fall*

Color and Appearance: “The increasing distance between the pairs of tergal bands posterad is diagnostic.”*

Adults forage on flowers. Females paralyze true bugs and provision their nests with them.*

From BugGuide.net (https://bugguide.net/node/view/41983)

Categories
Uncategorized

Five Banded Thynnid Wasp

Scientific Name: Myzinum quinquecinctum

Family: Thynnidae

Native Range: East and Central United States, Pennsylvania

Size: 16–22 mm (0.63 – 0.87 in)

Active: Late spring – fall

Color and Appearance: “Both genders have the wings darkened evenly overall. Males have brown tinted wings. Females have orange tinted wings. Females have red antennae, including the flagellum. Sometimes you can see yellow coloring on the scape.”*

*From BugGuide.net (https://bugguide.net/node/view/109316)

Categories
Uncategorized

Blue-Winged Scoliid Wasp

Scientific Name: Scolia dubia

Family: Scoliidae

Native Range: Eastern and Central United States to the Rocky Mountains, Pennsylcania*

Size: Length: 20 – 25 mm (0.8–1.0 in)*

Active: Summer and early fall*

Color and Appearance: “The head, thorax, and first two abdominal segments are black, while the remainder of the abdomen is red with two bright yellow spots on the third abdominal segment.”*

*From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scolia_dubia)

Categories
Uncategorized

Cuckoo Wasp

Species: Pseudomalus auratus

Family: Chrysididae

Native Range: Europe, Asia, Africa; Introduced to North America prior to 1825, Pennsylvania*

Size: 3–7 mm (0.12–0.28 in)*

Active: May – October*

Color and Appearance: Metallic greenish head and reddish brown body*

*From iNaturalist.org (https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/466429-Pseudomalus-auratus)