Need Advice from insect-expert Escapists

[bigfatcarp93]

Kindly identify:

Western Orgegon
Wasp (?)
Black in color, one inch long
Seems to be feeding and protecting colony of ants, much like ants do with aphids.

 

[Raven's Nest]

Got any more to go by?

 

[DugMachine]

No insect expert but just wanted to say I got stung by two wasps yesterday while I was mowing the lawn. Le sad face

 

[SckizoBoy]

Kindly identify:

Western Orgegon
Wasp (?)
Black in color, one inch long
Seems to be feeding and protecting colony of ants, much like ants do with aphids.

Considering the time of year and your noting the colour black, I'd hazard a guess it's actually a subservient princess ant of the same species as the ants she's feeding/protecting...

Either she'll be kicked out soon or there's going to be a swarm. Having said that, one inch?! How long are the ants she's tending to?

If she is a wasp, then (and bear in mind I've never heard of a wasp/ant symbiosis) it's definitely a solitary wasp and plant-parasitoid. My first thought (OK, third thought) was sirex woodwasp, but I highly doubt it, because they don't interact with other insects much. However, if the nest is on a pine tree, then it might just be the case that they share a home...

Other than that, most of the families that came to mind are the wrong size/colour or sociality to fit. *shrug*

If you had a pic, I might have a better idea...

 

[McMullen]

Most interactions I've heard of between wasps and other insects are the kind that give us some of our most cherished horror tropes.

 

[DrRockor]

I'm not an insect expert but my first inclination is kill it, kill it now and if possible kill it with fire. In fact why are you here, you should be killing it.