For tonight’s challenge I present one of my favorite insects:
What is it?
All ten Myrmecos points go to the first person who can correctly name the genus.
The cumulative points winner for the month of May will win their choice of 1) any 8×10-sized print from my photo galleries, or 2) a guest post here on Myrmecos.
Good luck!
a wild guess, but… Nomada?
Scolia species.
I don’t know if posting again is kosher, but I like the vespid idea. how about Trielis?
Well based on that photo, I to would call it a Nomada.
Poor Grim – had it the first time. 😉
Nomada, because of the obviously highly armored and punctulate cuticle (idk if that’s truely diagnostic, a lot of other bees may have that as well), which helps protect them against the stings of their hosts. They also lack the two pollen-carrying apparatus (the corbiculae?) on their hind legs, and on this one you just make it out.
I’m tempted to narrow it down further to the ruficornis species group, and maybe to N. maculata.
Also, the long tongue suggests some sort of bee, since I’m sure that only bees and the very distinct pollen wasps (Masarinae) have this in North America.
Another mystery, what flower is it on?
The flower looks like a mustard, maybe the white version of Erysimum repandum.
Oops. I knew I should have trusted my instincts.
What’s going on with the coloration on the eye? It seems to be in other Nomads, at least in the pictures at bugguide:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/194647