I was very excited @Sheps, it was fluttering round and bigger than I expected so I thought it was a butterfly I'd never seen before at first, especially with the orange wing parts on display. Then I realised when it landed what it was!
Not the best photos as I was a good distance away, but another of those skinny-waisted wasps doing something interesting. This one was removing dirt balls from a hole. I'm not sure if it's constructing a nest in the hole, or moving the moist dirt elsewhere to build a nest. It would plunge itself into the hole then emerge with a dirt ball and fly off with it.
New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
@CrankyYankee Good catch! Looks like Ammophila sabulosa, the red-banded sand wasp.
Now that's interesting because I looked it up on multiple sites and it's a northern European wasp. I'm seeing many of these on my property, I wonder if they're migrating, have been introduced, or maybe it's an American cousin?
New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
@wild edges thank you - that seems to fit the bill! I've never seen so many wasps as we have this year, and not our usual paper wasps or yellow jackets. Lots of these skinny-waisted wasps and really small species. I've seen some bumble bees and honey bees, but they're even more few and far between than in previous years.
@Sheps that is the most adorably soggy little bee I've ever seen!
New England, USA
Metacomet soil with hints of Woodbridge and Pillsbury
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Now that's interesting because I looked it up on multiple sites and it's a northern European wasp. I'm seeing many of these on my property, I wonder if they're migrating, have been introduced, or maybe it's an American cousin?
Bee bottom: