EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

Wasp With a Stalked Abdomen

Thread-Waisted Wasp, Family Sphecidae
Mindo, Ecuador

Explanation:  West of Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, in South America, winds a minor highway into the coastal mid-elevation hill country, eventually passing through the town of Mindo, and a wonderful orchid garden.  As I was perusing the plants, I found this thread-waisted wasp also enjoying the orchid blooms.  

More than just an addition to the scenery, thread-waisted wasps have been referred to as "some of the most underappreciated pollinators," and that also can quite beneficially help control insect pests.  They are not aggressive to people.  This individual -- which I did not identify to species -- was quite intent on exploring the orchid blooms, perhaps helping in their pollination as well.  

So what makes them "thread-waisted?"  It is that their abdomen is "petiolate," that is, joined to the thorax by a very slender stalk.