Someone found this on our recent field trip to Henning Conservation Area. It was a good catch and a brave one considering its fierce appearance. On first glance it looks a little like a male velvet ant (the females are wingless). I posted it on Bugguide.net and within minutes I had a tentative ID, a Spider wasp - Psorthaspis sanguinea. We are now awaiting confirmation by a specialist.

Not only is its appearance enough to intimidate a bug collector, but its nickname "horse killer" should be a clue. We described the powerful sting of this family, which is ranked at the peak of the Schmidt pain scale, in a previous Tarantula Killer blog, Fortunately no Master Naturalists were hurt in filming this wasp.
This is one of a series on finds on the Master Naturalist training field trip. More pictures from the field trip are at Finds from the Field.