It feeds on nectar but catches and paralyses caterpillars to leave in underground chambers for its developing larvae to consume.

Some have also been observed to parasitise the nest burrows of other species of wasp, Ammophila kennedyi and Podalonia robusta.

[5] George and Elizabeth Peckham were American ethologists and entomologists and described in 1898 how they watched a female A. urnaria wasp provisioning her burrow.

[2] On another occasion they saw a female wasp hammering the ground firm over the entrance to a burrow with a small pebble and reported what they thought was the first observation of an insect using a tool.

Since then, several species of Ammophila have been observed to move dry soil, particles of grit, male pine cones and other suitable size fragments into their burrows, push these objects down with their heads, add more, pound the surface of the ground with chips of wood or fine pebbles and leave it smooth and level.

The fact that these other wasp species also use tools makes it likely that this behaviour evolved a long time ago in a common ancestor.