This medium-sized wasp is highly beneficial because they prey on beetles that destroy trees. The female wasp lays her eggs on May beetle larvae buried in the ground, leaving one wasp egg on one beetle larva. The wasp larva invades the beetle and slowly eats it from the inside out. The wasp larvae mature into adults in early summer. Unfortunately, this wasp is parasitized by Velvet Ants and may find its own larvae the victims of attack.
Males have a psuedo-stinger at the tip of their abdomen, while females have the real thing. Adults drink nectar.
This species can be found in gardens, meadows, fields or on lawns.