Feather-legged Scoliid Wasp

Dielis plumipes · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Scoliidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Feather-legged Scoliid Wasp
Photo: Kai Squires, CC BY

Males show yellow bands on the first four abdominal segments, mostly white hairs, a nearly all-black pronotum, and completely black clypeus and legs. This species lives in the eastern and central United States.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range is the eastern and central United States.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 43 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Feather-legged Scoliid Wasp photo 3
Photo: asiminamacrophylla, CC BY-SA
Feather-legged Scoliid Wasp photo 4
Photo: Wyatt Sibilia, CC BY
Feather-legged Scoliid Wasp photo 5
Photo: Zihao Wang, CC BY
Feather-legged Scoliid Wasp photo 6
Photo: Zihao Wang, CC BY

Same family (Scoliidae)

Blue-winged Scoliid WaspBlue-winged Scoliid WaspScolia dubiaScolia hirtaScolia hirtaScolia hirtaDouble-banded Scoliid WaspDouble-banded Scoliid WaspScolia bicinctaToltec Scoliid WaspToltec Scoliid WaspDielis toltecaDasyscolia ciliataDasyscolia ciliataDasyscolia ciliata

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dielis_plumipes

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.