Mammoth wasp (Megascolia maculata) the largest wasp in Europe. The female reaching up to 6 centimetres and has a yellow head whereas the male is smaller with black head and longer antennae.

The mammoth wasp is found in Mediterranean type habitats such as oak forests, maquis and garrigue and can only occur where its host, the European rhinoceros beetle Oryctes nasicornis is found.

The female hunts in dead wood for the grubs which it paralyses with its sting and then lays a single egg on the larva. The wasp grub consumes the beetle larva apart from its skin, eventually building a cocoon and pupating. It emerges from the cocoon as an adult in the following spring.

The species can be seen in warm weather feeding on the nectar of flowers, from May to September.