Field Guide

There are more than 60 species of ammophila wasps in North America. They tend to be black, with orange on the abdomen. They are but one genus in the thread-waisted wasp family.

Andrenid bees, also called mining bees, are solitary ground-nesters. Most are specialist pollinators whose life cycle is timed to correspond precisely to the blooming of specific flowers.

Many apid bees are well-known. This family includes the familiar honeybee, bumblebees, and carpenter bees, plus many that are less well-known. With few exceptions, most of Missouri's apid bees are native, solitary species.

Resembling bees, or sometimes big, fuzzy mosquitoes, bee flies are a family of true flies and are not bees at all. Lacking the ability to sting, their bee mimicry helps them avoid many would-be predators.

The female black giant ichneumon wasp deposits her eggs through wood. The larvae eat the grubs of wood-boring insects.

The black-and-gold bumble bee is associated with prairies and other grasslands. It is one of several species of bumble bees that occur in Missouri.

The blue orchard bee is one of our native mason bees, or megachilids. It is a very important native pollinator of spring-blooming orchard trees, such as apple, pear, and cherry.

There are nearly 50 North American species of blue-black spider wasps. Many in this genus are entirely black, with a bluish sheen, while many others have an orange marking on the abdomen.

The blue-winged wasp is a common Missouri species of scoliid wasp. The abdomen has a distinctive fuzzy, rich rusty patch with two ovals of yellow. Its larvae eat Japanese beetle grubs and other scarab beetle larvae.