Podalonia sp.
(Cutworm wasps)
These wasps are quite common in my yard, or at least in the front garden. I guess I must have a lot of soil-inhabiting noctuids (cutworms) around, although I seldom see them - except when thry're being dragged by cutworm wasps.
They are also one of the first wasps that I see each spring. This is not too surprising since impregnated females overwinter as adults. This allows them to find the cutworms before they become moths.
There are twenty species in North America, and some are not easily separated from photographs. So although I've sent some of my iNat observations to BugGuide, they haven't, so far, IDed them species. So don't know what species is in the yard. Someday I'll capture one and bring it to Luc LaPlant at the Barr Entomological Musium for an ID.
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