Sceliphron caementarium, also known as the yellow-legged mud-dauber wasp, black-and-yellow mud dauber, or black-waisted mud-dauber, is a species of sphecid wasp. There are some 30 other species of Sceliphron that occur throughout the world, though in appearance and habits they are quite similar to S. caementarium.
The organ pipe mud dauber is a predatory wasp in the family Crabronidae. It is fairly large, ranging from 3.9–5.1 cm, and has been recorded to fly from May to September. Females and males are similar in colour, a shiny black, with the end part of the back leg being pale yellow to white. The organ pipe mud dauber feeds mainly on three genera of spider: Neoscona, Araneus, and Eustala. Melittobia, a parasitoid wasp, is a common ectoparasite of T. politum prepupae. Other sources of parasitism include the bombyliid fly Anthrax, chrysidid wasps, and various species of scavenger flies (Miltogramminae). The tufted titmouse is a known predator of T. politum, and may feed on them more commonly than previously thought, as the holes made by the titmouse are similar in shape and size to those made by T. politum leaving the nest after pupation.
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 Bembicini, or sand wasps, are a large tribe of bembecid 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 (e.g.,), 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.
Editha is a small genus of large, brightly colored sand wasps, restricted to South America. They are specialized predators of butterflies, and after capturing and paralyzing their prey, they strip the wings off before placing the bodies in an underground cell to serve as food for the wasp larva.
Sphex pensylvanicus, the great black wasp, is a species of digger wasp. It lives across most of North America and grows to a size of 20–35 mm (0.8–1.4 in). The larvae feed on living insects that the females paralyze and carry to the underground nest.
Microstigmus, or the thin-waisted social wasps, is a small genus wasp in the family Pemphredonidae. This genus is found in the Neotropical realm from Central to South America. They build nests and live in colonies ranging in size from 1 to 18 members. Microstigmus is widely considered to be the only true eusocial species of apoid wasp.
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 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.
The Pepsinae are a subfamily of the spider wasp family, Pompilidae, including the two genera of large tarantula hawks, as well as many genera of smaller species.
Ceropales is a genus of kleptoparasitic spider wasps from the sub-family Ceropalinae of the family Pompilidae. They are characterised by the taking of the spider prey of other solitary wasps, mainly Pompilidae but members of the Sphecidae that provision with spider prey are sometimes also hosts. In some languages their name translates into English as "cuckoo spider wasp".
Caliadurgus is a genus of spider wasps of the subfamily Pepsinae. These are medium-sized black spider wasps with some red. They have a catholic habitat choice and their preferred prey are spiders of the families Araneidae and Tetragnathidae. They have a Holarctic and Neotropical distribution.
Cynipini is a tribe of gall wasps. These insects induce galls in plants of the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. They are known commonly as the oak gall wasps. It is the largest cynipid tribe, with about 936 to 1000 recognized species, most of which are associated with oaks. The tribe is mainly native to the Holarctic.
Tachypompilus is a genus of spider wasps, found in the Neotropics Nearctic, eastern Palearctic, Indomalayan and Afrotropics.
Pison spinolae, commonly known as mason wasp, is a solitary wasp of the family Crabronidae, found throughout New Zealand.
Bassettia is a genus of gall wasps found in North America.
Trogus is a genus of parasitoid wasp found in the Holarctic and Neotropic regions. It is placed in the subfamily Ichneumoninae and the tribe Ichneumonini. Trogus species are parasites of larvae and pupae of the swallowtail butterfly family, Papilionidae. The genus consists of twelve extant and one extinct species.
Psenidae is a family of aphid wasps in the superfamily Apoidea formerly treated as the tribe Psenini. There are 12 genera and at least 485 described species of Psenidae.
Pepsini is a tribe of spider wasps in the family Pompilidae.
Stictia is a largely neotropical genus of large, often brightly colored predatory sand wasps, consisting of about 30 species.
