Bug FAQPhilanthus politus
Philanthus politus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Crabronidae
Philanthus politus is a wasp with distinctive white stripes that hunts bees. All available sources describe it simply as a white-striped bee-hunting wasp, without mentioning any threat to people, pets, homes, or plants.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
It has a white-striped pattern on its body.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It lives as a bee-hunting wasp, often called a beewolf.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It preys on bees.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
It is active during the seasons when bees are available.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 26 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Illinois, New York, Minnesota, Vermont, Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Massachusetts.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Crabronidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philanthus_politus
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.