Ornate Tailed Digger Wasp: Nature’s Stunning Marvels

The ornate tailed digger wasp is a striking insects with its vividly patterned black and yellow abdomen. This is something I found out when discovering a series of holes in a well trodden path that was hard packed sandy soil. What could they be, ants, miner bees? 

Observe for a while and the occupants arrive to hover a moment then go head first into the hole just about wide enough for it to crawl down. It appears to be an ornate tailed digger wasp, now classified as the Cerceris rybyensis, of the family Philanthidae. 

These wasps have exceptional burrowing skills, which they use to create underground nests for their young. They are solitary creatures that hunt mining bees to feed off. The tunnel goes down vertically for about 6 inches then turns horizontal. 

Cerceris rybyensis - ornate tailed digger wasp
Cerceris rybyensis - ornate tailed digger wasp

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