Observations by cdbathke

Kingdom: Animalia, Animalia means that the animal is multicellular, a eukaryotic organism. Some undergo a process of metamorphosis later in their lives. Phylum: Arthropoda, An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton (external skeleton), also a segmented body, and jointed appendages (paired appendages). This includes the insects, arachnids, myriapods, and crustaceans. Subphylum: Hexapoda, Hexapoda constitutes of the largest number of species of arthropods and includes the insects as well as three smaller groups of wingless arthropods: Collembola, Protura, and Diplura. The Collembola are very abundant in terrestrial environments. Hexapods are named for their most these few feature: a thorax with three pairs of legs. Most other arthropods have more than three pairs of legs. Class: Insecta, Insecta are the most diverse of all the animal groups. There are more species of insects than there are species of all the other animals combined. There are so many insects that no one knows quite how to count them all the best we can do is make estimates. Order: Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies) Hymenoptera is the third-largest order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 species are recognized, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the wings of the insects, but the original derivation is ambiguous. A key characteristic of this order is that the hind wings are connected to the fore wings by a series of hooks. Family: Sphecidae, Sphecidae are a cosmopolitan family of parasitoidal wasps that includes sand wasps, mud daubers, and other thread-waisted wasps.
The Great black wasp is a species of social, females and male wasps mate once a year. After mating, female will hibernate in the ground or in an enclosed space until the winter passes. The males will die. In the spring, the female wasp starts her colony by laying eggs in cell-like pods. Larvae will then hatch from the eggs and are fed by the female. Adult workers emerge 10 days later and care for the eggs. Some female worker wasps are sterile, their purpose is to nourish the baby wasps and assist the queen. As the spring progresses, more eggs, larvae and workers are produced. Near the end of summer, the male wasps will grow from the unfertilized eggs. Fertile females develop from the well-fed larvae. The insects mate and the process begins again in the next summer.
The Great black wasp lives across most of North America and grows to a size of 20–35 mm (about 1.5 in). The larvae feed on living insects that the females paralyze and carry to the underground nest. They sting them three times and it just paralyzes the animal.
The only adaptation that I found was that they weren’t as common in the northwest but can still be here, so they must be adapting to our climate or migrating this way. You can tell it’s a Great black wasp because of thread waist (slim slender part to the abdomen). Another way you can identify it is by the antenna and the pattern of the wings since all bugs have a distinct pattern to their wings.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphex_pensylvanicus
http://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/great-black-wasp http://www.orkin.com/stinging-pests/wasps/great-black-wasp/

http://bugguide.net/node/view/5530