Comments for
Grasshopper in disguise or the Largest Black Wasp (Sphecid Wasp)

Click here to add your own comments

Mydas fly
by: Moni

Kate (and maybe for Kelly too)
Not sure when you responded but if you put in your email address after you have submitted the photo, you will get an email, when the photo has been ID'ed.

Anyway...found your insect name...it is a Mydas fly!
Here are the photos - http://bugguide.net/node/view/5683/bgimage

It does fit your description much better. Saw one myself this summer so when I reread your comments the light bulb went off. Sometimes when I ID my first response is not the correct one..but once I have slept on it the light bulb comes on :-)

These are huge flies that look like wasps in the way they move and act. The antennae are the biggest clue. Flies have short antenna(about the length of the fly's head) while wasps generally have long antenna (at least 3/8-1/2" long).
These flies are beneficial and are found in eastern North America. The adult flies do not live long. The immature stages prey on soil-dwelling insect larvae, especially on beetle larvae (including white grubworms and other larvae of beetles).

Been Looking EVERYWHERE
by: Kelly

I've been looking everywhere for an answer to what type of bug this is. I took a pic with my phone because i didnt want to get very close as it looks like it has a stinger and it was HUGE! but the pic didnt turn out. I was on my lunch break in september, sitting in my car which is in a parking lot near a pond in the twin cities of Minnesota.
Looks similar
by: Kate

Sorry it took so long to reply. :) couldn't find the website for awhile. It looks similar to the ones you posted but I don't think that's it. The one one I took a picture of had orange antenna and its bottom (thorax?) didn't have a very distinct pinching. The bug's bottom looked more connected as if it was just wearing a tight belt. I could be wrong, he could just be a fat bug. Thank you for responding. :)
Sphecid Wasp
by: Moni

Kate
It is a Sphecid wasp of some type. There are several large black wasps in this family, tho none are quite 2-3". Most of the Sphex spp. wasps are known as digger wasps. They dig a hole in the ground to lay their eggs. Depending on the species, the wasp stings its prey to paralyze it as food for the larva. The larva eat live food, so the toxin that paralyzes the prey keeps the food fresh and alive until the larva hatch and feed on it. Some of these big wasps capture, katydids, crickets or grasshoppers to feed the young.
Your wasp looks like the Katydid wasp but the size is not as big as you noted. Here is a pic to compare to the one you photographed.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/6949/bgimage?from=24
Let me know what you think?

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Insect Identification

Return to Grasshopper in disguise or the Largest Black Wasp (Sphecid Wasp)




All of Doug's Ebooks Can Be Found Here





Subscribe


Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner



Subscribe in a reader




Subscribe in a reader

E-Mail Updates


Enter Email Address Here:

Delivered by FeedBurner



Videos

Watch Videos


Loading...

.