Blue-winged Scoliid Wasp
Scolia dubia
Scoliidae
A large striking wasp with black wings that flash iridescent blue in sunlight. It exists to eat Japanese beetle grubs — female wasps burrow into the ground, find grubs, sting them into paralysis, lay an egg, and the larva devours the grub from the inside. Both a competent pollinator and one of the best free pest controls a NJ gardener has.
How to spot one.
0.6–1 inch long
Black head and thorax, orange abdomen
Two yellow spots on the abdomen
Wings iridescent blue-black in sunlight
Long antennae
How it lives.
Parasitoid — females burrow through soil to find scarab beetle grubs (Japanese beetle, June beetle, oriental beetle), paralyze them with a sting, and lay a single egg on each. The wasp larva consumes the grub. Adults nectar heavily at native wildflowers.
The spec sheet.
- Type
- Wasp
- Active
- July – October
- Native to NJ
- Yes
- Conservation status
- stable
- Family
- Scoliidae
What it needs.
Plants this species visits, feeds on, or depends on. Names in hydrangea link to the plant’s Field Guide entry.
Nectar source
Nectar source
Nectar source
Boneset, joe-pye weed
Nectar source
Xerces Society · Wildseed Project
Others in this group.
- SiNative · NJ
Great Golden Digger Wasp
Sphex ichneumoneus
A large, striking orange-and-black solitary wasp that looks alarming and is completely harmless to humans. Female visits flowers heavily for nectar, h…
- SpNative · NJ
Great Black Wasp
Sphex pensylvanicus
Entirely, dramatically black — body, legs, wings — with an iridescent blue sheen if the light catches it right. Large (up to 1.4 inches), solitary, an…