Identification
P. erynnis is the only red-marked species of its genus in the US, according to a comment in the Matthews/Gonzalez paper cited below.
Habitat
Often nests under siding boards of buildings.
Season
Reported in south Texas only during the fall and winter, but Florida, Georgia, and northeast Texas photos on the Guide all date from July and August.
Food
Adults are nectar feeders; they gather caterpillars as food for their larvae, possibly with a preference for the larvae of owlet moths (
Noctuidae).
Life Cycle
Solitary. A parent wasp builds mud cells or inhabits empty cells of another mud-building wasp species, provisioning its young with caterpillars. A single larva inhabits each cell.
Remarks
P. erynnis has been documented using empty cells built by
Zeta argillaceum, a neotropical species recently introduced to the US in Florida. May also re-use nests of other mud daubers or build its own.
This species is probably parasitized by the cuckoo wasp
Chrysis angolensis.
