Genus Myzinum

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Works Cited

Five-banded Tiphiid Wasp - Myzinum quinquecinctum - male

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

No Taxon (Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and Stinging Wasps)

Superfamily Vespoidea (Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets)

Family Tiphiidae (Tiphiid Wasps)

Subfamily Myzininae

Genus Myzinum

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

=Myzine, Myzina

Explanation of Names

Myzinum Latreille 1803

Numbers

10 spp. in our area, 63 spp. total(1)

Size

7–24 mm(1)

Identification

Key to NA spp. in(1)

Females are robust, with short, curled antennae and heavy hind femora ("thighs"). Males are very slender with long, straight antennae and a prominent curved "pseudostinger" at the tip of the abdomen.

Range

New World, most diverse in the Neotropics; in our area, e. half of NA + sw. US(1)

Habitat

Typically meadows, fields, lawns(2)

Season

Jun-Oct in NC

Food

Larvae are parasitoids of white grubs (scarab larvae), especially Phyllophaga(2); adults take nectar

Life Cycle

Female lays one egg per grub in soil. Larva hatches, penetrates host, first feeding on non-essential tissues, later feeding on essential organs and killng host. Pupae overwinter in soil; adults emerge in early summer. One generation per year.(2)

Works Cited

1.	Taxonomic purgatory: Sorting out the wasp genus Myzinum Latreille in North America (Hymenoptera, Tiphiidae, Myzininae) By L.S. Kimsey

2.	National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders By Lorus and Margery Milne

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Bug Eric, Beatriz Moisset, Bbarnd, v belov
Last updated 15 December, 2011 - 1:56am

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