Isodontia elegans, also known as the elegant grass-carrying wasp, is a species of solitary, nest-provisioning,[2]thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae that hunts orthopterans (grasshoppers, crickets, bush crickets, locusts, etc.).[1][3][4][5]
I. elegans is described as having a generally black-color body, rusty-red to yellowish abdomen, and see-through wings with some tinting.[6] They were originally considered to be a species of western and southern North America,[6] but have been found in the northeastern corner of the continent in increasing numbers.[5] They seem to use pre-existing holes created by other insects for their nests and then outfit them with "finely chewed fibers of dead weeds and grass."[6] The grass serves as a defensive barrier at one end of the nest; it keeps parasites from entering while the larvae feed on the paralyzed insects which have been stored in the nursery.[7]
Isodontia elegans may be attracted to same kind of nest holes that appeal to blue orchard mason bees.[2]
Spendal, Ronald C.; O'Neill, Kevin M.; Delphia, Casey M. (2021-12-15). "Nesting Biology and Offspring Development of the Cavity-Nesting Solitary Wasp Isodontia elegans (F. Smith) from Trap-Nests in Oregon". Western North American Naturalist. 81 (4). doi:10.3398/064.081.0408. ISSN1527-0904. ProQuest2619125096.
