Last week, we saw a Mason Wasp among the many pollinators that visit our patch of Mountain Mint. The bees and wasps flock there every day where we recently saw another interesting creature – a Scoliid wasp.
In addition to being a pollinator, the Scoliid wasp is extremely beneficial to your yard and plants as it helps control June beetles and other grubs. Most prevalent during the month of August, the female Scoliid wasp flies low across the soil in search of grubs. When it detects one, it digs through the soil burrowing its own tunnel or following one made by the grub. Once locating a grub, she stings it on the throat and paralyzes it. At first, the grub appears to be dead, but after a day or so it can feebly move its legs. Such paralyzed grubs can live for a considerable time. The female wasp then lays an egg on the third segment of the grub. The paralyzed grub provides a fresh food supply for the wasp larva after it hatches from the egg. Once a grub has been stung, it never recovers.
Amazingly, the day after I saw the Scoliid wasp on the Mountain Mint, I saw one beside the driveway going into a hole. She had obviously found a grub and was either stinging the grub or laying her egg.
Though the colorful wasps sting grubs, there is no record of one stinging a human, so they appear to be no threat to people, but quite a threat to grubs and another good reason to plant Mountain Mint.
