Bordered Plant Bug vs Horned Baboon Spider-hunting Wasp

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Bordered Plant Bug Horned Baboon Spider-hunting Wasp
Scientific Name Largus californicus Sphex tomentosus
Order Hemiptera Hymenoptera
Family Largidae Sphecidae
Size 12-17 mm 25-35 mm
Habitat Deserts & Drylands Deserts & Drylands
Diet Sap Feeders Predators
Regions North America East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda)
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Bordered Plant Bug

A dark blue-black bug with bright orange margins common in arid parts of California. Nymphs are iridescent blue and gather in large groups.

💡

Did You Know?

Nymphs cluster in spectacular iridescent blue groups that can number in the hundreds on a single plant.

Horned Baboon Spider-hunting Wasp

A large, solitary wasp with a black body and metallic blue-green sheen. It hunts grasshoppers and katydids, paralyzing them and provisioning underground nest cells.

💡

Did You Know?

French naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre's observations of this wasp's rigid behavioral routines led to famous debates about insect intelligence.