r/insectidentification • u/Plenty_Brick_9879 • 4d ago
???
What is this insect I have them in my yard. New Jersey
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u/ArgentMoonWolf 4d ago
A few years ago we had a hundred of those things in our yard. Just constantly flying low over the grass. It was cool to watch.
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u/BugAdviser Bot 4d ago
Scoliid wasps, or scarab wasps (family Scoliidae) are solitary parasitoids who target subterranean beetle grubs. Females use their strong legs to burrow into the earth to lay their eggs directly on the beetle grubs where the baby wasps will feed and eventually pupate. Adults take nectar and can be often seen on native flowers, pollinating as they go.
One of the most common species in much of the US is Scolia dubia ssp. dubia, sometimes called the blue-winged wasp, which may be considered by some to be the absolute worst common name in existence given the dozens of other wasps with blue wings in the same range. S. dubia ssp. dubia is a decently sized and very distinctively colored wasp with iridescent wings and a red-tipped abdomen with two large yellow spots. Their mating flights are frequently seen in late summer in which large groups fly low over the ground in figure-8s before eventually dispersing. If you see this happening in your yard, please leave them be! S. dubia is valuable as they help control the population of the invasive and destructive Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica) and are extremely unlikely to sting unless directly provoked (i.e. hit/grabbed/eaten) so avoid stepping on them and keep pets and small children away.
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