Sunday, August 4, 2013

Great Golden Digger Wasp

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Sphex ichneumoneus 

I was trying to clear back the weeds from our front walk and disturbed a Great Golden Digger wasp who was flying around with a katydid.

She probably has a lair in under the black-eyed-susans and was taking her paralyzed prey down to seal it in a chamber with an egg laid in its chest.







They are not shy and typical of solitary wasps they are not aggressive.  In fact they seem to be curious about people and pets, and often dig their burrows in high-traffic areas.



As a gardener, what's not to like?  They prey on grasshoppers and katydids, they aerate the soil with their burrowing, and they pollinate the flowers.