Double-banded Scolid Wasp

Scoliid wasp larvae act as important biocontrol agents, feeding upon beetle larvae in the ground, including the serious pest, the Japanese beetle. Adult wasps may be minor pollinators of many wildflowers. they are found in the hottest places about strongly scendet flowers. There is a quote about its behavior from the book Treatise on Injurious and Benefecial Insects to Crops, page 176 :" In Europe Scolia bicinta makes its burrows in sand-banks, to the depth of 16 inches with a very wide mouth and it is probable that the nest is stored with grasshoppers."