Sand Wasps can DIG!! : Have you seen me Ep. 1

have you seen me there's so much wildlife in Los Angeles we live in a biodiversity hotspot and we share our Urban environment with thousands of unique species it's mindblowing one insect that you might see in your neighborhood is the American sand wasp I was walking with a friend along biona Creek and we happened to stumble across all these wasps then I decided to film them because look at how cool they are it's crazy because this was all in a residential neighborhood in LA and don't worry these WS are your friends and nothing to fear you may have seen nests built by paper wasps but did you know that some wasps and bees build nests Underground how cool is that the habitat they prefer is sandy soil so you can find these wasps in vacant Lots drive over beds and beaches they've even been spotted in the long jum pit at USC these wasps are females and looking to tend to their nests earlier in the year the males make with the females and die shortly after now these ladies are on a mission they will spend their days forging for insects feeding on nectar and pollinating flowers once they've caught a fly or other bug they will bring it back to their nest and leave it for their young to [Music] eat their babies are in nests located a few centimet underground protected on all sides by sand to reach their babies they'll need to dig and dig and dig and dig some more they use their mandibles and first pair of legs to move sand in small rocks they have tarsel rakes to help them [Music] dick inside the nest there is usually one larvae eating what its mother brought she will come back several times with more pre items for her young she provides valuable ecosystem Services by managing fly and insect populations which is a very human way of saying that we can benefit from them they are a very important part of the ecosystem that we're all a part of these wasps all have nests next to each other and you might think that that means they are in a hive or a colony like bees or yellow jackets but these wasps are not social they do live around others but make no Collective effort to work together and even act aggressively toward each other this is called solitary gregarious nesting just look at these two seemingly Clueless about the other kicking sand at each other sometimes other wasps and bee species will live with them like this thread waisted wasp using our naturalist we can see that these wasps seem to be most active from June to September so now is a great time to see them with pictures taken by Community scientists on a naturalist we can see these wasps are all over North America you can be a community Scientist by up loading your own photos of sand wasps and other bugs plants and fungi to our naturalists to help scientists and researchers understand more about the biodiversity living in your community I hope you look for these beautiful wasps they're full of energy and so much fun to watch maybe you'd even be able to see them in your own neighborhood they're incredibly docile and harmless and while filming this I never even came close to being stun just make sure to respect their space and watch your step because you may potentially step on a nest thank you to our sponsors big wasp and big nature they ask that you protect the wasps in all the native pollinators so we can eat delicious food like figs which depend on wasps to pollinate them there is so much Beauty and life in urban environments like right here so I hope you appreciate it and don't sleep on Urban wildlife [Music] a [Music]