This predatory wasp generally preys on katydids (family Tettigoniidae) in genera Microcentrum and Scudderia. A female wasp will dig a burrow and provision it with 1-3 insects, laying a single egg upon each one. When the eggs hatch, the resulting larvae feed on the still-living but paralyzed host. (Eew).

This female wasp is the largest I've ever seen - I've measured it accurately at 35mm (males are smaller). It actually makes a rustling sound when it flies, the wings are so large - reminiscent of the sound a mantis makes when lumbering into the air. Awesome!

I often wonder why this wasp's compound eyes do not present anything but a flat, glossy surface. Many bees in the Hymenoptera family Halictidae, praying mantids, various butterflies, dragonflies and many other arthropods' eyes exhibit "pupils" or other geometric or refractory patterns.