Numbers
14 species in North America, all in the genus Pseudomasaris.
Identification
Yellow and black. FW with only two submarginal cells. Clubbed antennae.
Food
The larvae- unlike those of other Vespids- eat pollen and nectar instead of insects, etc.
Life Cycle
The females make nests of mud or sand attached to twigs or rocks. They provision the nests with pollen and nectar and lay their eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae that eat the provisions, then pupate and emerge as adults.
Print References
The Pollen Wasps - Ecology and Natural History of the Masarinae. Gess, Sarah K. (1996) Harvard University Press.
