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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and Stinging Wasps » Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets (Vespoidea) » Yellowjackets, Paper Wasps, and Hornets; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps (Vespidae) » Potter and Mason Wasps (Eumeninae) » Zethus » Zethus spinipes

Species Zethus spinipes

Classification · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Battle Damage - Zethus spinipes - female

What genus and species? - Zethus spinipes

Another black and white wasp - Zethus spinipes

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 Vespidae (Yellowjackets, Paper Wasps, and Hornets; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps)

Subfamily Eumeninae (Potter and Mason Wasps)

Genus Zethus

Species spinipes (Zethus spinipes)

Explanation of Names

Author is Say, 1837.

Size

13-17 mm body length

Identification

Black, thorax has yellow marks. Narrow yellow band on abdominal segment 3. Wings brown to violet. Bizarre stalked abdomen typical of genus.

Range

Eastern United States, Massachusetts, New York, south to Florida; west to Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas. More common in south, apparently.

Habitat

Fields, meadows, with flowers

Season

July-September (North Carolina)

Food

Adults take nectar

Life Cycle

Similar to other Potter Wasps, presumably. Reported to nest in "mud cells attached to twigs" (1), though this may be an error. Eumeninae of rackenridge Field Laboratory says: "A few Zethus species build aerial nests made entirely of macerated leaves, plant fibers, and resins."

Print References

Arnett, p. 589 (1)

Borror and White, pp. 347-348, illustrate jaws of genus, which they place in subfamily Zethinae (2)

Brimley, p. 439 (3)

Internet References

Species page in the Identification Atlas of the Vespidae of the Northeastern Nearctic Region. (4)

Eumeninae (Vespidae) (Mason Wasps) Of Brackenridge Field Laboratory

Works Cited

1.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico By Ross H. Arnett

2.	A Field Guide to Insects By Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson

3.	Insects of North Carolina By C.S. Brimley

4.	Identification Atlas of the Vespidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata) of the Northeastern Nearctic Region By Matthias Buck, Stephen A. Marshall, and David K. B. Cheung

Contributed by Cotinis on 10 September, 2004 - 10:03pm
Additional contributions by Matthias Buck
Last updated 28 February, 2008 - 4:31pm

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