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Family Scoliidae - Scoliid Wasps
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 (Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets)
Family Scoliidae (Scoliid Wasps)
Other Common Names Flower Wasps Pronunciation sco-LIE-i-dee Numbers 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 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) Food Adults often take nectar. Larvae feed on beetle grubs. Life Cycle Parasitoids of ground-dwelling scarab beetles, esp. Phyllophaga. The female wasp digs down to these, stings them and lays an egg on the paralyzed grub. See Also Male (winged) Velvet-Ants, Mutillidae. (Their wings lack the wrinkles.)
Print References
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 | 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 |  |
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