Horse guard wasp
| Horse guard | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Bembicidae |
| Genus: | Stictia |
| Species: | S. carolina |
| Binomial name | |
| Stictia carolina Fabricius, 1793 | |
The horse guard wasp (Stictia carolina) is a type of sand wasp (Bembicini) from the eastern United States which preys primarily upon horse-flies (Tabanidae). It is a large, colorful, fast-flying wasp, one of 28 species in the genus Stictia (which occur throughout North and South America), all of which have similar biology.