Bug FAQOrnate-tailed Digger Wasp
Cerceris rybyensis · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Crabronidae
The ornate-tailed digger wasp is a small sand-nesting wasp with yellow and black bands on its abdomen and yellow tibiae on the rear legs. Females hunt and paralyze small to medium bees to provision their underground brood cells, and the species has one generation per year with adults flying from June to September.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Females are 8 to 12 mm long, while males are slightly smaller at 6 to 10 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives in sandy soils, both coastal and inland, but can also be found on heavier soils and chalk grassland. It has even been recorded in a suburban garden in London.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Females capture small and medium bees, sting them to paralyze, and place five to eight prey items in each brood cell.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species has one brood per year; adults are on the wing from June to September.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are active during the summer months, from June through September.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is a Palearctic species ranging from southern England and the Iberian Peninsula across most of Europe to Scandinavia and eastward to Japan.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It often nests alongside other burrowing wasps and bees, such as the sand-tailed digger wasp (Cerceris arenaria).
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What do ornate-tailed digger wasps eat?
Females hunt small and medium bees, sting them to paralyze, and use the immobilised bees to feed their larvae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where might I find them?
They nest in sandy or chalky soils, including coastal areas, inland sites, and even suburban gardens.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Crabronidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerceris_rybyensis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.