A small wasp, about 1/2 inch (13 mm) long, mainly black thorax and abdomen with yellow bands. The thorax has three yellow spots that appear as a “smiley face” pattern. It has yellow spots at the tegula (where the wings are attached), a yellow spot on each side of the thorax and a yellow collar on the front of the thorax. It has a yellow spot behind the eye. The ventral side of the antennae are yellowish (visible in photo A). Legs are black and yellow with the femur being black and the tibia and tarsi yellow.
This wasp is found coast to coast in North America. It is probably common in this area. It has been photographed in 2016-18 in the restored butterfly garden in the wetlands.
This wasp breeds in borings in twigs, stems and wood, empty insect galls and sawfly cocoons, old mud-dauber nests, and man-made tubular structures. Cell partitions and closing plugs are made of mud. Prey consists of caterpillars of several families of moths.
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