Native-bee-pest
Guides
Leucospis affinis
Leucospis affinis is a large chalcidoid wasp and the most common and widespread North American species in the family Leucospidae. Females are easily recognized by their whip-like ovipositor that curls over the dorsal surface of the abdomen, which they use to drill through wood and deposit eggs in the nests of solitary bees. The species is an external parasite (ectoparasitoid) primarily of megachilid bees including leafcutter bees (Megachile), mason bees (Osmia), and resin bees (Dianthidium), though it has also been recorded from the mason wasp Ancistrocerus antilope.