Crabro sp.

This is a male wasp in the square-headed wasp genus Crabro. Females make nests in the soil and provision their young with small insects. The males have large plates on their front legs. These are used to cover the female's eyes during mating. These plates filter the light reaching the female, indicating to her that this is a member of her own species.

Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Crabronidae
Genus: Crabro sp.

Photograph: © 2016 RKD Peterson
Date of Photograph: 13 August 2016
Location: Montana, Gallatin Co. (45^o50'10" N 110^o45'17" W)