The Bee Wolves

I was thrilled when I took my camera inside from shooting in my wildflower garden on a past summer day and identified this hymenopteran as a Bee Wolf.  Philanthus gibbosus (Family Crabonidae) is what I am calling this one.  Bee Wolves get their name from doing what you expect, feeding primarily on bees.  These solitary wasps will load their brood chambers with pretty much any bee or wasp smaller than themselves that they can catch as a provision for a single egg they deposit prior to sealing the chamber shut.  Some taxa have specific bees they prefer to catch and this can aid in identification.  This poor thing was quite beaten up as you can see in the photograph below.  Missing a few legs, it probably escaped a bird or larger insect, and was not happy to have me and my camera in its face.  In the photo above I captured it doing a rapid vibration of its wings, something I read that these guys are known for doing as a communication.  I can’t imagine what she may have been trying to tell me…

I believe the insect below to also be a species of Bee Wolf, but have not yet been able to put a name with this one.  I photographed this one having a drink in a wet area of Shaw Nature Reserve early one morning.

-OZB