| Isodontia elegans | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Sphecidae |
| Tribe: | Sphecini |
| Genus: | Isodontia |
| Species: | I. elegans |
| Binomial name | |
| Isodontia elegans | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Isodontia elegans, also known as the elegant grass-carrying wasp, is a species of solitary, nest-provisioning, [2] thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae that hunts orthopterans (grasshoppers, crickets, bush crickets, locusts, etc.). [1] [3] [4] [5]
I. elegans is described as having a generally black-color body, rusty-red to yellowish abdomen, and see-through wings with some tinting. [6] They were originally considered to be a species of western and southern North America, [6] but have been found in the northeastern corner of the continent in increasing numbers. [5] They seem to use pre-existing holes created by other insects for their nests and then outfit them with "finely chewed fibers of dead weeds and grass." [6] The grass serves as a defensive barrier at one end of the nest; it keeps parasites from entering while the larvae feed on the paralyzed insects which have been stored in the nursery. [7]
Isodontia elegans may be attracted to same kind of nest holes that appeal to blue orchard mason bees. [2]
