The Paper Makers
Posted by John Petitt on August 2, 2005
Q: I made a trench in my yard for a water line. It has been open for a month and large flying insects (1" long) have started to make holes an inhabit the trench. There are about 40 holes, about 1 to 1-1/2" in diameter. The insects look like hornets. Black head with black and fluorescent green markings on the tail section. They have large translucent brown wings. Very scary looking! What are these things?
Habitat: suburban/yard
State: New Jersey
Habitat: suburban/yard
A: Thanks for your good description, I think I've got an ID for you. Sounds to me as though your insects are indeed wasps called Sand Wasps. From your description and your location, I'm going to go out on a limb and say they may be a rather common Sand Wasp species called Microbembex monodonta. These Sand Wasps burrow in groups, lay eggs in the burrows and feed their young flies that they catch. If you can watch their activities, you may be able to see them carrying food for their young. Adult female wasps do have stingers but are not noted for being aggressive so I wouldn't worry about having them around. Actually, they're probably helping to keep your fly population down. See if you can google this species and determine whether this particular species or another species are your visitors. Thanks for asking.
John Wiessinger ( August 2, 2005)