Smoky winged beetle bandit

The smoky winged beetle bandit (Cerceris fumipennis) is a native, harmless, ground-nesting wasp that hunts for wood boring beetles including Emerald Ash Borer (EAB).

Holding cerceris fumipennis — Photo courtesy of Monika Chandler, Minnesota Department of Agriculture

The smoky winged beetle bandit is a harmless, solitary, non-aggressive wasp. It is not known to sting people, even when handled.

The female Cerceris wasps hunt for beetles in the trees and bring their prey back to their nest holes in the ground to feed to their offspring. An observer can easily watch a wasp colony and collect their beetle prey to check for EAB presence.

Cerceris ballfield — Photo courtesy of Jennifer Schultz, University of Minnesota Extension

Cerceris fumipennis prefer to nest in sandy, compact soil and less used baseball fields are an ideal habitat. Other possible habitats include sandy walking trails, informal roads or parking lots, campsites, and farm or logging roads.

Cerceris fumipennis female face — Photo courtesy of Philip Careless

Cerceris fumipennis male face — Photo courtesy of Philip Careless

Keys to Identifying the smoky winged beetle bandit:

1/2 inch-3/4 inch long
Mostly black in color
One cream/yellow band on 2nd segment of abdomen
Dark smoky brown wings
Female has 3 yellow spots on face, male has 2 yellow spots on face

Female Cerceris in nest — Photo courtesy of Jennifer Schultz, University of Minnesota Extension

Keys to Identifying a Cerceris Nest:

Openings are round with diameter of a pencil.
Nest hole opening is surrounded by a small circular mound of earth.
Holes typically go straight down, not angled.
Sometimes the nest is confused for an ant hill. Ant hills are generally busy places. Watch it for a few minutes and you should see ant activity. If there is no activity for many minutes, it could be a Cerceris nest.