Fine Blue Hairs, Pt. 2 - _TNY_0333
Whan I found this - and a bunch more like it - in the ditch by the side of the road back in April of 2021 I immediately thought that they were black-banded spider wasps (Anoplius viaticus) but then I never got around to processing them.
Finally having a look at them now in late 2022 I realized that they are a different species - a different genus even. Say hello to a hairy sand wasp (Podalonia hirsuta).
They were buzzing around and some of them were digging burrows where they later were going to bury an egg together with some sort of paralyzed prey for it as food.
If you zoom in on it, you'll see that it is covered in fine blue hairs.
Part 1 here, www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52540855835/
Fine Blue Hairs, Pt. 2 - _TNY_0333
Whan I found this - and a bunch more like it - in the ditch by the side of the road back in April of 2021 I immediately thought that they were black-banded spider wasps (Anoplius viaticus) but then I never got around to processing them.
Finally having a look at them now in late 2022 I realized that they are a different species - a different genus even. Say hello to a hairy sand wasp (Podalonia hirsuta).
They were buzzing around and some of them were digging burrows where they later were going to bury an egg together with some sort of paralyzed prey for it as food.
If you zoom in on it, you'll see that it is covered in fine blue hairs.
Part 1 here, www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/52540855835/