Adkins Arboretum Mystery Monday: Guess the Photo!

Happy Mystery Monday! Can you guess what is pictured in photo #1?

The answer to last week’s mystery is gold-marked thread-waisted wasp, Eremnophila aureonotata, pictured in photo #2.

The gold-marked thread-waisted wasp, Eremnophila aureonotata, is native to North America, ranging from southern Canada into Mexico. Despite their fierce appearance, these wasps are not aggressive and rarely sting humans.

They’re easy to recognize by their extremely thin, stalk-like abdomen, which helps the female maneuver when laying eggs or fending off predators. Solitary by nature, they sometimes appear in pairs during mating, with the male clinging to the female’s back as they fly from flower to flower. They are frequent visitors to goldenrods, spotted horsemint, boneset, and other Summer-blooming asters, playing an important role as pollinators.

Females dig nests in sandy soil, then paralyze large moth caterpillars and drag them back as food for their young. Once the nest is stocked with live food, she seals the entrance and covers it with bits of twigs, leaves, and small stones to better conceal it. The developing wasp larva inside will feed on the provided caterpillar until emerging as adults the following year.

Mystery Monday is sponsored by the Spy Newspapers and Adkins Arboretum.