Wolf at Your Door

Sweat bee, fodder for a beewolf. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

You sip some nectar, and suddenly, a flash of yellow.

A wolf is at your door.

It's a beewolf, a crabronid wasp from the genus Philanthus, as identified by Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at UC Davis, and native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, UC Davis emeritus professor of entomology.

Beewolves, also known as bee hunters, prey upon small bees, thus their name. They carry their kill to their offspring in their underground nests.

The beewolf we saw yesterday wasn't big enough to prey on a honey bee, but yes, there are European species, European species, Philanthus triangulum, that can. 

Thorp says that this particular beewolf (below) appears to be a Philanthus multimaculatus.  Check out the BugGuide.net image.

So tiny, but so colorful, too.