This is a small black and yellow wasp approximately 1/2 inch or 13 mm in length. The head is black and the antennae are black except at the base which is yellow. The thorax is black with a split yellow collar, a thin yellow line in the mid-section, and a yellow spot on the side. The abdomen is long and has constrictions between the segments. The black abdomen has a wide yellow band on the second segment and narrower yellow bands on the 3rd, 4th and 5th segments. On the legs, the femur is black and the tibia and tarsus are yellow. The wings are brown.
These wasps are probably fairly common on flowers in summer. One was photographed (see photos A & B) on Wolfberry behind the Fontenelle Nature Center. These wasps are sometimes attracted to lights at night. See photo C, wasp attracted to lights set up to attract moths.
Cerceris is known as the Weevil Wasp as it provisions its nests with adult beetles (particularly weevils) for the developing wasp larva. The female excavates a cavity in soil for its nest. There are many look-alikes in this genus, so identification to species for some of them is not possible from photographs.
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