There’s no need to fear the Common Thread-waisted Wasp (Eremnophila aureonotata), since it rarely stings. I recently filmed a mating pair and the foraging female during a visit to San Felasco Hammock Preserve in Gainesville, Florida.
After mating, the female digs a burrow, and then searches for a caterpillar to place inside. She then paralyzes the caterpillar with a sting and flies it back to the nest. After wrestling it into the burrow, she lays an egg on it and then carefully covers the burrow’s entrance. After hatching, the cradled waspling consumes the caterpillar.
