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Not a cuckoo wasp.
Some type of bee - maybe even a yellow-faced bee, although I don't know my bees very well.
Beautiful.
Some kind of robber fly - Asilidae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asilidae
Stratiomyidae -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratiomyi...
Not a thread-waisted wasp (although it has a thread-waist) - this term refers to family Sphecidae.
This wasp is in family Vespidae (social wasps).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespidae
Possibly genus Delta, or something similar. Look at
http://www.pbase.com/wildlifeuae/vespida...
Ichneumonidae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumoni...
Ensign wasp - Evaniidae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaniidae
http://bugguide.net/node/view/14164
Might be the larva of a carpet beetle in the family Dermestidae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermestida...
Some of these species are pests in stored products (in your pantry) or if something dies up in your attic.
also
http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/resources/...
Looks like some sort of Euphorbia (or at least Euphorbiaceae)
Fly - possibly a soldier fly (Stratiomyidae)
Try something like this - maybe not the same species, but should be close (the soldier fly, not the hoverfly).
http://tristram.squarespace.com/home/?cu...
Michael - well spotted, and nice information.
Just one note - Charops is an ichneumonid not a braconid.
