Subject: Great Golden Digger Wasp, Sphex ichneumoneus, with Katydid Prey

Location: Upshur County, West Virginia

Stock Number: 3552

Comment: The katydid is a conehead in the genus Neoconocephalus.

Female Great Golden Digger wasps hunt for their cricket or katydid prey, paralyze them with a sting, and fly back to their burrow. Dragging the paralyzed prey into their hole, they lay one egg on it. When it hatches the larva feeds upon the living prey.

We have other photographs without prey that show the wasp in more detail.