They may be solid black or brown, or be patterned with white, yellow or red. They differ from Spider wasps and Vespid wasps because their short, collarlike, pronotum has a knoblike lobe that does not extend back to the base of the wings. They differ from Vespid wasps in having a short discal cell in the forewing and unpleated wings that are fold- ed over the abdomen while at rest.
Some adults drink nectar from flowers , others drink aphid honeydew or body fluids of their prey.
Breeding females hunt for many kinds of insects and spiders and may nest in under- ground tunnels. Some sphecids are nest parasites , and may remove an egg from the nest of another sphecid species and replace it with their own. These wasps are aggressive and all have a painful sting. They are a dark, metallic, steel blue with the antennae and legs being black and the wings, a dark blue. They can be found in meadows which have nearby sandy areas and are found throughout .