Welcome to Arizona Wasps. A north-south eco-habitat makes for a diverse wasp and bee population in the state. The stinging wasps start the presentation because they pose a potential medical hazard as well as a nuisance in many residential areas.
There’s more diversity in paper wasps compared to yellowjackets in Arizona.
Hunter’s Paper Wasp
Yellow Paper Wasp
Western Yellowjacket
They build ground nests like the one in the picture. Keeping an eye out for yellowjackets in the yard than might congregate in an area is a good way to avoid an unpleasant encounter.
Some physical features place the potter and mason wasps in the vespid category. However, these wasps also get categorized as solitary rather than social wasps. They do not present the stinging dangers associated with paper wasps and yellowjackets.
Potter wasp
Tarantula hawk
Toltech Scoliid wasp
Weevil Wasp
Weevil Wasp
Abert’s ammophlia
Male Sphex Lucae
Black and Yellow Mud Dauber
Prionyx
Unknown
Steniolia scolopacea – sand wasp
Bees
North American hosts approximately one thousand different species, including its most familiar members, honey bees and bumble bees, along with less familiar names such as Cuckoo Bees, Carpenter Bees and Digger Bees.
The story of flower bees extends far beyond the basic honeybee. Approximately four thousand bees inhabit North America, and many households who practice bee friendly gardening get treated with their presence and pollination help.
California Bumblebee
California Bumble Bee (face)
Western Bumble Bee
Brown-belted Bumblebee (side)
Brown-belted Bumblebee (top)
Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (face)
Yellow-faced Bumble Bee (side)
Yellow-fronted Bumblebee (face)
Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee (side)
Yellow-fronted Bumble Bee (top)
Hairless and small in size, Cuckoo Bees family resemble wasps more than they resemble bees, making them among the least known of the family.
The common name cuckoo refers to the bee’s practice of brood parasitism, like it’s namesake in the bird world, the Cuckoo bird. Adults lay their eggs in ground nests of other bee species, and then let the young fend for themselves.
Digger Bee
Blue Orchard Bee
Leaf-cutter Bees (Megachile)
Western Longhorned Bee (face)
Western Longhorned Bee
Longhorned Bee
Oblong Woolcarder Bee
Female European Woolcarder Bee
Stelis
Northern Rotund Resin Bee
California Digger-cuckoo Bee
Least Cellophane Cuckoo Bee
Red-footed Sharp-tailed Bee
Western Leafcutter Bee
Furrow Bee
Wide-striped Sweat Bee
Fine Lined Sweat Bee (female)
Fine Lined Sweat Bee (male)