StarFlowerStudioNYMar 5, 2025
A great black wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus) feeding at and pollinating Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa).

Adults are pollinators but paralyze other insects with their venom and bring them to the nest for their larva to feed on.

Interestingly, they are victims of kleptoparasitism, in which birds observing them, often steal their prey.

#greatblackwasp #sphexpensylvanicus #parasiticwasps
Khürt WilliamsAug 11, 2024

Great Black Digger Wasp and Two-Spotted Bumble Bees

After photographing butterflies in the meadow on this trip to Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve on 20 July 2024, I suggested to Bhavna that we leave the meadow and go to the new pond to look for dragonflies. As we leisurely walked back through the meadow to the car, I noticed a Great Black Digger Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus).

At the time when I took the photographs, I did not know what kind of bees and wasps these were or what flowers they were on. All were identified later when I uploaded [...]

https://islandinthenet.com/two-spotted-bumble-bee/

Great Black Digger Wasp and Two-Spotted Bumble Bees by Khürt Williams

After photographing butterflies in the meadow on this trip to Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve on 20 July 2024, I suggested to Bhavna that we leave the meadow and go to the new pond to look for dr…

Island in the Net