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Pepsis thisbe
Body length roughly 40-45 millimeters. Body black with bright blue iridescence as shown. Wings orange with whitish wingtips and dark submarginal band as shown.
Nectaring on a lone, blooming saltcedar tree (Tamarix sp.) in a degraded shortgrass prairie habitat with yucca, sunflower, and scattered elm trees.
Male tarantula hawks do not sting. They have longer hindlegs and a sleeker body than the females. The shape of the male subgenital plate is useful for identification to species.
Spotted on Jul 4, 2013
Submitted on Jan 9, 2014
3 Comments
This is an awesome shot of an awesome wasp!
Thanks, Tom. No, not a new camera, I just get lucky occasionally :-)
Nice one Eric! Your pictures are looking really nice, did you get a new camera?