The wasp in this photo is black with yellow markings. It is pollinating our native species of poinsettia also called fire on the mountain, but not much of the plant is visible. The wasp has a unique metasoma with a petiolate first tergite segment that is bubbled at the end. The second tergite is also quite long and bulbous. The following segments are then compressed and quickly come to a point. There’s a thin yellow marking on the first and second tergite and a yellow dash visible on the second tergite. There’s some yellow on the mesosoma/thorax. There’s also a texture on the thorax of dense dimples. The small tick of yellow behind the eyes of this species is an important identification marker. They are solitary wasps that are quite docile and difficult to photograph as they are more likely to quickly run away.
