A couple weeks ago, I stopped to take a photo of a patch of these beautiful yellow tickseed flowers and realized that they were full of pollinators of quite a few types. I already posted some photos of one of my all time favorite moths, the spragueia moth in those flowers. Another gorgeous pollinator that was busy with those flowers were these noble scoliid wasps (Scolia nobilitata). They are one of several types of scoliid wasps that we have around here.

Scoliid wasps can be found in much of the world and are closely related to some of the other parasitic wasps including velvet ants. The noble scoliid wasp can be found in most of the eastern half of the United States and Canada. Adults feed on the nectar of quite a variety of flowers, and are often found near the centers of flowers. They have many tiny hairs on their bodies that collect and distribute pollen from these flowers as they come and go. The larval wasps feed on scarab beetle larvae, some of which are invasive in this area, and all of which can cause plant damage. So you can see, these guys are great for plants and help to control some invasive beetles. Additionally, unless seriously harassed, these wasps are very passive and don’t sting. I have had them land on me before and they have never hurt me at all.