Until 2023, I had never seen, or at least never noticed these beautiful Ammophila pectipennis wasps. They’re supposed to be fairly uncommon and don’t even have a common name. Since 2023, I’ve seen quite a few of them, especially in the fall. I haven’t seen as many this fall as I did last fall, but there are still quite a few, particularly on the blackjack flowers. I love the red band that is on their tails, and the red and black colors compliment each other really well. The long, thin body style is also attractive and it makes these wasps quite graceful. This one was feeding on some of the blackjacks in my front garden. It’s the time of the year when the pollinators are feeding heavily so that the ones that survive through the winter, like honey bees will have food and so the ones that won’t survive the winter, like these wasps, will have ample energy to mate and produce the next generation before they die. So far this fall nature has provided for them very well and there is rarely a day that I don’t see one somewhere either in my garden or on a hike in the woods.