Podium rufipes

Head, thorax, and abdomen black with bluish reflections; apical three-fourths (or less) of femora, tibiae, and tarsi reddish; wings clear except for clouding of second submarginal cell; erect white hair of head and thorax. ; in the western P. krombeini femora entirely red: uncommon in collections, probably not so much because of its rarity but more likely because it is difficult to capture. It prefers an open wooded habitat and runs swiftly over tree limbs and trunks instead of taking flight. However, it will accept borings in wooden traps as a nesting site... P. rufipes preyed on either adult or nymphal cockroaches which it presumably found under loose bark of dead trees and in similar situations. Usually it stored about 6 specimens in a cell, though occasionally there might be only 3 or 4 or as many as 14. This species is rare in collections and this may reflect the wasp's cryptic habits and difficulty capturing quickly moving wasps on logs and branches in forests. They may also have particular habitat requirements that restrict their distribution. The cockroaches that P. rufipes preys on may be most abundant in the dead trees and leaf litter of deciduous forests, but pines are required as a source of resins to seal the nests. Krombein's habitat descriptions (1967,1970) and mine all indicate a mixture of broad-leafed trees and conifers. (Cowan 1991)