Bug FAQLouis's Club-horned Cuckoo Wasp
Sapyga louisi · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Sapygidae
Louis's Club-horned Cuckoo Wasp is a small wasp with distinctive yellow markings that run from the mandibles up to near the top of the eye. Adults visit flowers for food, while the larvae steal provisions from leaf-cutter bee nests, especially those of Heriades carinata. It belongs to the club-horned wasp family Sapygidae.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The inner eye margins are marked with yellow from the mandibles up toward the upper edge of the eye.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
This species is notably smaller than related club-horned wasps.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be told apart from similar wasps by its small size and the yellow body markings described above.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 21 of 51 states and DC. Most records: New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Illinois, Texas, Missouri, Michigan.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I identify Louis's Club-horned Cuckoo Wasp?
Look for a very small wasp with yellow markings that run from the mandibles up to near the top of the eye; these features set it apart from related species.
Source: Wikipedia
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapyga_louisi
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-29 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-29.