Digger wasp, avispa excavadora

Description:

The digger wasp Prionyx kirbii has black head and thorax.The waist is also black and very thin while the abdomen is black and red with white lines and usually raised above the waist. Prionyx kirbii is a lonely wasp that lives in areas with dry shrubs in open soil places. The female excavates a hole on the ground flying veritcally upside-down gripping a sand grain with the mandibules while beating furiously the wings. It functions as a drill producing a prefect cylindrical and vertical hole 3 cm. deep. Then it seals the entrance with a small stone that will be the door. Later on it will chase a small grasshopper paralizing it witht the sting. It will introduce it in the nest, lay and egg and close perfectly the door.

Habitat:

Spotted on a clearing in a Holm oak forest

Notes:

Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/100sec.; f/25; ISO Speed Rating: 800. Exposure Bias: 0 EV. Focal Length: 90.0 mm.