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Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Vespoidea » Scoliid Wasps (Scoliidae)

Family Scoliidae - Scoliid Wasps

Classification · Other Common Names · Pronunciation · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Jumbo sized Wasp ?? - Campsomeris tolteca - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

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

Superfamily Vespoidea

Family Scoliidae (Scoliid Wasps)

Nearctica.com--Scoliids, lists 7 genera and 23 species: Campsomeriella--1 sp., Campsomeris--9 spp., Crioscolia--2 spp., Micromeriella--1 sp., Scolia--7 spp., Trielis--2 spp., Triscolia--1 sp.

Arnett, p. 579, lists 22 species. (1)

Univ. Florida Featured Creatures--Scoliid Wasps of Florida lists 20 species in 5 genera for nearctic region

Size

20-50 mm

Identification

Robust wasps, medium-sized to large.
Distal part of wings have length-wise wrinkles
Bodies hairy
Underneath, mesosternum and metasternum divided by a transverse suture
Basal segments of rear legs (hind coxae) well-separated
Usually dark-colored, often with light marks (yellow or white) on abdomen

Range

North America. Most diverse in southeast, southwest.

Habitat

Typically fields, meadows, lawns (searching for hosts)

Season

Summer

Food

Adults often take nectar.

Life Cycle

Parasitoids of ground-dwelling scarab beetles, esp. Phyllophaga. The female wasp digs down to these and lays an egg on the grub.

See Also

Male (winged) Velvet-Ants, Mutillidae. (Their wings lack the wrinkles.)

Tiphid Wasps, Tiphiidae

Print References

Arnett, pp. 579-580 (1)

Bland, p. 380 (2)

Borror and White, p. 344 (3)

Internet References

Univ. Florida Featured Creatures--Scoliid Wasps of Florida--key to nearctic genera and species

Insects of Cedar Creek--lists Campsomeris plumipes-confluenta and Trielis octomaculata.

Univ. Florida--Entomology 3005, family description

North Carolina State University Entomology Collection lists three genera and six species from that state. These are, with number pinned: Campsomeris: plumipes (194), quadrimaculata (42); Scolia: bicincta (125), dubia (220), "nobilita" = nobilitata (193); Trielis: octomaculatus = octomaculata (38)

Works Cited

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

2.	How to Know the Insects By Roger G. Bland, H.E. Jaques

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

Contributed by Cotinis on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset
Last updated 4 February, 2008 - 7:14am

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