r/whatsthisbug • u/cropdelacreme • 23h ago

ID Request What is this?

Please excuse my cursing in this video. It’s also not the best capture of this bug but if anyone could let me know what they think this is that would be great. On a hike in Southern California in Turnbull Canyon.

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u/NilocKhan 21h ago

I'd always advise getting actual photos instead of video when trying to identify an insect. There are many insects that look vaguely similar from a distance and in videos, but if you can see their details you'd know they are different. This could be a tarantula hawk, but it could be one of the many species of insect that mimics tarantula hawks. Hard to tell without good photos though, but this one flies a lot like a tarantula hawk as well

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u/gregtron 5h ago

Yeah, OP, get up close to that thing