| Ancistrocerus nigricornis | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Vespidae |
| Genus: | Ancistrocerus |
| Species: | A. nigricornis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ancistrocerus nigricornis (Curtis, 1826) | |
| Synonyms | |
Ancistrocerus nigricornis is a species of potter wasp. [1]
This species is present in most of Europe and in the eastern Palearctic realm, in the Near East, in North Africa, and in the Oriental realm. [2] [3]
These potter wasps live in wet meadows, [4] in open landscapes, sometimes in gardens and in areas where their feeding and preferred nesting sites are present. [3]
Ancistrocerus nigricornis can reach a length of 6–10 millimetres (0.24–0.39 in) in males, of 9–13 millimetres (0.35–0.51 in) in females. [4] These medium-sized solitary wasps are yellow and black, with brown hairs on thorax, small spots at the base of the front wings and wing stigma. [5]
Metasomal terga III–IV show apical bands. In the females the spot between antennal socket and eye is absent. [6]
This species has a single annual generation (univoltine). Adults emerge in late summer. Males can be seen from June until September, [4] while females have been recorded from February to October. After mating the males die and the females overwinter and reappear in the spring. [3] As adults, they eat plant juices, honeydew larvae and nectar of various flowers, mainly wild angelica ( Angelica sylvestris ), [4] hogweed ( Heracleum ), blackberry ( Rubus fruticosus ), nightshades ( Solanaceae ), goldenrod ( Solidago ) and thistle. [3]
Nest building occurs during the spring and early summer. These nest consist of holes in wood or tubes, commonly in elder and bramble stems, with clay partitions. These potter wasps lay an egg in each cell where they put various paralysed small caterpillars of micromoths, mainly Tortricidae . When the eggs hatch the larvae consume the prey. [3]
Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. This ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism —that is, they have a wormlike larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they mature.
Polistes is a cosmopolitan genus of paper wasps and the only genus in the tribe Polistini. Vernacular names for the genus include umbrella wasps, coined by Walter Ebeling in 1975 to distinguish it from other types of paper wasp, in reference to the form of their nests, and umbrella paper wasps. Polistes is the single largest genus within the family Vespidae, with over 200 recognized species. Their innate preferences for nest-building sites leads them to commonly build nests on human habitation, where they can be very unwelcome; although generally not aggressive, they can be provoked into defending their nests. All species are predatory, and they may consume large numbers of caterpillars, in which respect they are generally considered beneficial.
Potter wasps, the Eumeninae, are a cosmopolitan wasp group presently treated as a subfamily of Vespidae, but sometimes recognized in the past as a separate family, Eumenidae.
The European beewolf, also known as the bee-killer wasp or the bee-eating philanthus, is a solitary wasp that lives in the Western Palearctic and Afrotropics. Although the adults of the species are herbivores, the species derives its name from the behaviour of the inseminated females, who hunt Western honey bees. The female places several of its paralysed prey together with an egg in a small underground chamber, to serve as food for the wasp larvae. All members of the genus Philanthus hunt various species of bees, but P. triangulum is apparently the only one that specialises in Western honey bees.
Synagris is an Afrotropical genus of large potter wasps. Several Synagris wasps are strongly sexually dimorphic and males bear notable morphological secondary sexual traits including metasomal lamellar or angular protruding structures and hornlike or tusklike mandibular and/or clypeal projections.
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.
The European potter wasp or European tube wasp is a species of potter wasp. As an imago (adult), the female collects as many as 20 caterpillars for each nest, which consists of a single cell. Her larval offspring then feed on these inside the nest, which is sealed with mud arranged by her. As adults, they eat nectar and aphid honeydew. Males cannot sting, and the sting of a female is not painful. They can be found on windows, foraging for nectar on flowers, or searching out small cracks or holes in which to nest.
Ovodynerus is an Afrotropical genus of potter wasps which contains eleven species.
The tree wasp is a species of eusocial wasp in the family Vespidae, found in the temperate regions of Eurasia, particularly in western Europe. Despite being called the tree wasp, it builds both aerial and underground paper nests, and can be found in rural and urban habitats. D. sylvestris is a medium-sized wasp that has yellow and black stripes and a black dot in the center of its clypeus. It is most common to see this wasp between May and September during its 3.5 month colony cycle.
Chrysis ignita is a species of cuckoo wasp. It is one of a group of species which are difficult to separate and which may be referred to as ruby-tailed wasps.
Delta emarginatum is a species of potter wasp in the subfamily Eumeninae of the family Vespidae.
Katamenes arbustorum is a species of potter wasp in the subfamily Eumeninae of the family Vespidae.
Crabro cribrarius, common name slender bodied digger wasp, is a species of wasp of the family Crabronidae.
Symmorphus allobrogus is a species of potter wasps belonging to the subfamily Eumeninae.
Eumenes dubius is a species of potter wasp in the subfamily Eumeninae of the family Vespidae.
Chrysis viridula is a Western Palearctic species of cuckoo wasp, first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1761. Chrysis viridula is included in the genus Chrysis, and the family Chrysididae. It is a parasitoid of a number of species of eumenid wasp, mainly those in the genus Odynerus.
Euspinolia militaris is a species of wasp in the family Mutillidae. Though it is a wingless wasp, it has sometimes been referred to by the name panda ant.
Symmorphus gracilis is a species of tube-nesting wasps.
Ancistrocerus longispinosus is a species of potter wasp, belonging to the family Vespidae, subfamily Eumeninae.
