Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
BugGuide Gathering
Pack Forest
Washington State
July 10-12, 2009
Details...

Photos from the 2009 gathering
 
Photos from the 2008 gathering in Tennessee
 
Photos from the 2007 gathering in Minnesota

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Apoid Wasps (Apoidea)- traditional Sphecidae » Crabronidae » Bembicinae » Sand Wasps (Bembicini) » Bembicina » Glenostictia » Glenostictia pictifrons
Photo#130522
Nesting Wasp - Glenostictia pictifrons - female
Copyright © 2007 Marvin and Jo Smith

Nesting Wasp - Glenostictia pictifrons - Female
Ozark Mountains, Searcy County, Arkansas, USA
July 23, 2007
Size: 14mm
When this wasp first alit on the bare ground, I thought she might be going to dig a nesting hole, but no. She already had a burrow dug. The entrance was covered, and although I couldn't see it, she knew exactly where the hole was. She hovered only briefly before landing and uncovering the entrance. Then, she went down the hole where she remaid only briefly before emerging and recovering the entrance to her burrow. She may have been provisioning. I didn't see that she had an insect, but if it was small I could have missed seeing it.

Here she has the ends of her front legs bent into hooks and is scooping the loose sand in front of her back beneath her body and flinging it backwards into burrow entrance.

Images of this individual: tag all
Nesting Wasp - Glenostictia pictifrons - female Nesting Wasp - Glenostictia pictifrons - female Nesting Wasp - Glenostictia pictifrons - female
tag · login or register to post comments
Contributed by Marvin and Jo Smith on 25 July, 2007 - 10:35am
Last updated 4 January, 2008 - 10:15am

Duplicate
Duplicate
… Beatriz Moisset, 4 January, 2008 - 10:15am login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Glenostictia.
… Beatriz Moisset, 4 January, 2008 - 10:15am login or register to post comments

Thanks, Philip
I appreciate the ID and additional information.
… Marvin and Jo Smith, 7 October, 2007 - 2:50am login or register to post comments

Glenostictia pictifrons
I may be for some help. Usually I stick to Psocoptera taxonomy but the species you have photographed is one that I collected this summer and spent a great deal if time keying out, it turned out to be a new record for Canada…Glenostictia pictifrons; Family Crabronidae.

Since I was lucky enough to have a specimen in hand I could answer the genera question, the palpal formual is 6-4 which along with some head markings confirms it as Glenostictia (the palpal formula can’t be counted on a live wasp and was even hard with a pinned specimen). You can download a long key to take you to species from http://essig.berkeley.edu/CIS/cis27.pdf

Only G. pictifrons and G. emarginata are found east of the Mississippi. G. emarginata has very different abdominal and thoracic markings and preys on adult Lepidoptera. If you excavated the soil around were your photo was taken I am sure you would find paralysed bombyliides (beeflies), the preferred prey of G. pictifrons. I wish I knew how to include a thumbnail photo so I could show you my wasp with its prey. Seeing your pictures on Bug Guide made me realise I was on the right path. Thanks.
… Philip Careless, 2 October, 2007 - 11:30pm login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2009 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by Iowa State University Entomology.

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Site Map
Contact