Theres a huge black beetle looking flying insect with a wasp body in the back yard what is it? i live in Az?

Question

well the wings were like a dark blue or purble and the body was like a beetle had anteninas and everything but it flys and the body under the wings look like a wasp hope thats a beter description

Answer 1

ID it here -

http://www.insectimages.org/

http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/

If its a beetle -

http://www.zin.ru/animalia/coleoptera/en...

Answer 2

A bug.

Answer 3

Aside from the fact that you say it looks like a beetle, I'd have to agree with the people who are saying it was probably a Tarantula Hawk. Usually I think the ones you'd see in that area have reddish wings, but there are some species that have different colored wings. Look up anything in the family Pompilidae. If that's not what you're looking for you might need to give an even better description. For instance, how big was it? What color was the body? How long were the legs/antennae? Did it have the hard-shell wings of a beetle (if there was a pair of wings that were staying still while it was flying and one pair that was actually doing the flying, it may have been a beetle)? Anyway, good luck.

Answer 4

it might be a big bumblebee but i cant be sure if it looks all balck with stinger than it probably is just watch they deliver a powerful sting

Answer 5

I want the answer to that too, I have a friend that sent me a picture of it.. it's amazing isn't it?  I've never seen anything like it before also.

Does yours have long antenna's?

Answer 6

idk if i'm right but it might be a flying cricket (those are EVERYWHERE and look the same as you described them) and i live in colorado. but you can always google it. like type in "black flying insect wasp body" or something! good luck!! :o)

Answer 7

I think it's called a Katka. Hope thiis helps I don't kknow if it's still in your back yard but those bugs are ugly but, I heard they hum at night and make some nice noise.  Hope this helps!!!

Answer 8

Your description is extremely vague and I can think of many insects it fits.  

Since you live in Arizona, and it has a "wasp body", etc, it just might be a Pepsis Wasp, otherwise known as a Tarantula Hawk.  If it has orange wings, and a blue-black body, and is definitely a wasp approximately 2-3" long, then that's what it is.

These are wonderful insects and benefit our world a great deal.  They feed on flower nectar, and will not hurt humans unless provoked.  This wasp species is a "solitary" insect and does not live in nests or colonies.  They are one of the two biggest wasps in the USA.  When they fly they make a loud buzzzzzzzzzzz.  They are smart, inquisitive, and powerful. The females are larger than the males and have bigger abdomens.  The male spends his life in relative ease and has only three needs; food, finding a mate, and avoiding predators.  The female, on the other hand, has a much more involved life.  She needs food, to find a mate, and avoid predators too, but she also needs to hunt down a Tarantula.  She then will coax it from its burrow,  fight with it and "win" by stinging it under it's cephlathorax and therefore paralyzing it.  Sometimes she does not win the battle and the big spider eats her.

The wasp drags the spider back to its burrow, or must dig a new one,  where she pulls and pushes the arachnid until it's down at the bottom.  She lays only "one" egg on the abdomen of the spider, and, returning to the surface, covers over the hole with dirt.  The egg hatches, the larvae eats the preserved spider, and grows big.  It then spins a caccoon of silk threads.  Later it hatches into a beautiful, fresh adult Pepsis Wasp, which digs its way out and begins the cycle over again.  The size of the spider determines the size of the wasp, because "all" the soft parts of the spider are eaten before the larvae pupates.

If it were not for Pepsis Wasps we would be overrun with Tarantulas.  These wasps are a beautiful and wonderful addition to our wildlife world, and they do their part in helping to keep our planet healthy and strong.  Only man's interferance damages this balance.

Answer 9

does not mader what it is kill it

Answer 10

its a black Wasp...DO NOT get it mad for it will chase you.

Answer 11

Ah, you have spotted a tarantula hawk! They usually do not sting without provocation, but they do hurt quite a bit when they do sting. Bee stings do not bother me at all, but one of these had me screaming. I imagine being shot to be just slightly more discomforting...  They actually use their sting to paralyze tarantulas so that they can lay their eggs in them, and have their young feast on the still barely alive tarantula when they finally hatch. Somewhat gruesome, but welcome to the desert!