| Ammophila aberti | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Sphecidae |
| Genus: | Ammophila |
| Species: | A. aberti |
| Binomial name | |
| Ammophila aberti Haldeman, 1852 | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Ammophila aberti is a species of thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae. [1] [2] [3] [4]
It is found in western and central North America, from Canada to Mexico, [5] in open, semi-arid locations. [6]
The male rides on the female's back, using his mandibles to hold onto the back of her head. The female must move her abdomen upwards for them to copulate successfully. [7]
The female of this species digs its nest in firm sand or muddy areas. While digging, the wasp emits a buzz that can be heard from over four meters away. It flies the soil it excavates away from the burrow.
Tunnels are several centimeters long, usually straight, sometimes slightly curved or angled. The round cell at the bottom of the tunnel is 18-20mm in diameter.
Ammophila aberti prey on geometrid larvae, providing up to 10 for a nest. Gathering enough prey for their larvae takes over two days. During this time it will temporarily close the entrance, open it to deposit prey, and then close it again. This temporary closure is achieved by pulling a pebble over the opening and pushing sand over it. After the nest has been fully provisioned, the wasp will close the burrow again by jamming pebbles inside it and kicking the dirt or sand down. Sometimes it will only use dirt or sand. Once the fill material has reached the surface, it will use a rock or some other hard material to press down the dirt. [7]
Sphecius speciosus, often simply referred to as the cicada killer or the cicada hawk, is a large, solitary digger wasp species in the family Crabronidae. The name may be applied to any species of crabronid that preys on cicadas, though in North America, it is typically applied to this species, also referred to as the eastern cicada killer in order to further differentiate it from the multiple other examples of related wasp species. Sometimes, they are called sand hornets, although they are not hornets, which belong to the family Vespidae. This species can be found in the Eastern and Midwest U.S. and southwards into Mexico and Central America. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them. Cicada killers exert a measure of natural control on cicada populations, and as such, they may directly benefit the deciduous trees upon which the cicadas feed.
The Sphecidae are a cosmopolitan family of wasps of the suborder Apocrita that includes sand wasps, mud daubers, and other thread-waisted wasps.
Beewolves, also known as bee-hunters or bee-killer wasps, are solitary, predatory wasps, most of which prey on bees, hence their common name. The adult females dig tunnels in the ground for nesting, while the territorial males mark twigs and other objects with pheromones to claim the territory from competing males.
The Bembicini, or sand wasps, are a large tribe of crabronid wasps, comprising 20 genera. Bembicines are predators on various groups of insects. The type of prey captured tends to be rather consistent within each genus, with flies (Diptera) being the most common type of prey taken. Nests are typically short, simple burrows, with a single enlarged chamber at the bottom which is stocked with freshly paralysed prey items for the developing wasp larva; the egg may sometimes be laid before the chamber is completely stocked. It is common for numerous females to excavate nests within a small area where the soil is suitable, creating large and sometimes very dense nesting aggregations, which tend to attract various species of parasitic flies and wasps, many of which are cleptoparasites; in some cases, the sand wasps prey on their own parasites, a surprisingly rare phenomenon in the animal kingdom. Although sand wasps are normally yellow and black, some are black and white with bright green eyes.
Bembix rostrata is a species of sand wasp native to Central Europe. The genus Bembix - of which B. rostrata is among the most distinctive species - has over 340 species worldwide and is found mostly in warm regions with open, sandy soils; Australia and Africa have a particularly rich variety of species.
The subfamily Crabroninae(digger wasps) is the most diverse group in the wasp family Crabronidae, containing over 110 genera and 4,800 described species. The subfamily consists of solitary, predatory wasps. The adult females of many groups dig tunnels in the ground for nesting, but others use different techniques, including the construction of tube-like mud nests.
Philanthus gibbosus, the hump-backed beewolf, is a species of bee-hunting wasp and is the most common and widespread member of the genus in North America. P. gibbosus is of the order Hymenoptera and the genus Philanthus. It is native to the Midwestern United States and the western Appalachians. P. gibbosus are often observed to visit flowers and other plants in search of insect prey to feed their young. The prey that P. gibbosus catches is then coated in a layer of pollen and fed to the young wasps.
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as bees and ants are deeply nested within the wasps, having evolved from wasp ancestors. Wasps that are members of the clade Aculeata can sting their prey.
Sphex ichneumoneus, known commonly as the great golden digger wasp or great golden sand digger is a wasp in the family Sphecidae. It is identified by the golden pubescence on its head and thorax, its reddish orange legs, and partly reddish orange body. This wasp is native to the Western Hemisphere, from Canada to South America, and provisions its young with various types of paralyzed Orthoptera.
Cerceris fumipennis, the only species of buprestid-hunting Crabronidae occurring in eastern North America, is found throughout the continental United States east of the Rockies: from Texas and Florida north to Maine, Wyoming, and into Canada. The wasps most often nest in open areas of hard-packed sandy soil surrounded by woody habitat suitable for their buprestid beetle prey.
Agapostemon texanus is a species of bee found in North America. Commonly known as the metallic green sweat bee or the Texas striped sweat bee, it varies greatly in its appearance, with variations in color and in the amount of black markings on the legs.
Sphecius grandis, also called the western cicada killer, is a species of cicada killer wasp (Sphecius). The western species shares the same nesting biology as its fellow species, the eastern cicada killer. S. grandis, like all other species of the genus Sphecius, mainly provides cicadas for its offspring. It forms nest aggregations and mates and broods once in a year, in July and early August. The wasp is on average 3 cm (1 in) to 5 cm (2 in) in length and is amber-yellow with yellow rings on its abdomen.
Ammophila is the type genus of the subfamily Ammophilinae of the hunting wasp family Sphecidae. Ammophila is a large and cosmopolitan genus, with over 200 species, mostly occurring in the warmer regions of all continents apart from Antarctica.
Ammophila sabulosa, the red-banded sand wasp, is a species of the subfamily Ammophilinae of the solitary hunting wasp family Sphecidae, also called digger wasps. Found across Eurasia, the parasitoid wasp is notable for the mass provisioning behaviour of the females, hunting caterpillars mainly on sunny days, paralysing them with a sting, and burying them in a burrow with a single egg. The species is also remarkable for the extent to which females parasitise their own species, either stealing prey from nests of other females to provision their own nests, or in brood parasitism, removing the other female's egg and laying one of her own instead.
Ammophila urnaria is a species of hunting wasp in the family Sphecidae. It is a black and red insect native to the eastern United States. It feeds on nectar but catches and paralyses caterpillars to leave in underground chambers for its developing larvae to consume.
Odynerus spinipes, the spiny mason wasp, is a species of potter wasp from western Europe. It is the type species of the genus Odynerus, being first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
Cerceris rybyensis, the ornate tailed digger wasp, is a Palearctic species of solitary wasp from the family Crabronidae which specialised in hunting small to medium-sized mining bees. It is the type species of the genus Cerceris and was named as Sphex rybyensis by Carl Linnaeus in 1771.
Ammophila placida is a species of thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae. It is found in the continental United States and Central America.
Ammophila azteca is a species of thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae. It is native to Canada, Mexico, and the continental United States. It is found from near-sea level to over 6,000 feet in altitude.
Ammophila procera, the common thread-waisted wasp, is a species of thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae. It is a common species, found in southern Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and south to Central America.
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