Blue-winged wasp

Open woodland edges, gardens, meadows, and other sunny areas with flowering plants and beetle-rich soil.

Adults feed mainly on flower nectar. Larvae consume and develop on scarab beetle grubs, including Japanese beetle larvae.

Usually solitary and nonaggressive; adults forage on flowers, while females burrow into soil to find and paralyze beetle grubs before laying an egg on them. The dark wings and orange abdominal markings are characteristic.

Females can sting if handled, but encounters are generally low-risk. They benefit gardens by parasitizing destructive scarab beetle larvae and pollinating flowers.