Thread-waisted wasp (likely great golden digger wasp)

Open, sunny habitats such as sandy soil, gardens, roadsides, prairies, and woodland edges, mainly in North America.

Adults consume nectar and sometimes honeydew. Females provision underground nests with paralyzed grasshoppers and katydids for their larvae.

Solitary and generally nonaggressive unless handled; females excavate burrows, stock individual chambers with prey, and seal them after laying one egg. Adults are active in warm weather and often bask or forage on flowers.

The sting can be painful but this species rarely stings without provocation. It benefits ecosystems by pollinating flowers and suppressing grasshopper and katydid populations.