HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp

Clickable Guide

Calendar

BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008

Photos from the gathering

Photos from the 2007 gathering in Minnesota

TaxonomyBrowse

Info

ImagesLinksBooksData

Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Apoid Wasps (Apoidea)- traditional Sphecidae » Thread-waisted Wasps (Sphecidae) » Podalonia

Genus Podalonia

Classification · Other Common Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Who is this wasp from the Dark Side? - Podalonia

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)

No Taxon (Apoid Wasps (Apoidea)- traditional Sphecidae)

Family Sphecidae (Thread-waisted Wasps)

Nearctica.com lists 19 species.

Size

Circa 25 mm (P. luctuosa)

Identification

Thread-waisted wasps, similar to Ammophila: black with orange marks on abdomen. Petiole appears to be one-segmented, and shorter (?), in Podalonia, apparently has more segments, and is proportionately longer (?) in Ammophila. Abdomen more robust in Podalonia than in Ammophila. (There are sex differences within a species as well.) See comments under this image by Matthias Buck:

note the long sternum 1 (continuation of petiole) reaching base of second abdominal segment

Compare also the (rather uncommon?) Palmodes.

Range

North America (?). P. violaceipennis appears to be widespread in east, e.g., Minnesota, North Carolina.

Habitat

Fields, etc. with flowers

Season

June-September (violaceipennis, Minnesota), April-October (several species, Michigan), April-May and September (violaceipennis, North Carolina)

Food

Adults take nectar at various flowers, such as goldenrod.

Life Cycle

Parasitoids of Noctuidae (cutworm) caterpillars. Excavate nest after finding prey, reversal of the order for most sphecids. One caterpillar is placed in each cell. P. luctuosa has two flights per year in Michigan. Second brood overwinters in burrows, sometimes with others of the species. Other species have one generation per year.

Print References

Arnett, p. 595 (1)

Brimley, p. 445--Sphex violaceipennis (2)

Salsbury, p. 284--photo P. luctuosa (3)

Internet References

Sphecid Wasps of Michigan

Works Cited

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

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

3.	Insects in Kansas By Glenn A. Salsbury and Stephan C. White

Contributed by Cotinis on 15 December, 2004 - 12:13pm
Last updated 15 July, 2008 - 4:05am

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2008 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by Iowa State University Entomology.

Printer Friendly Version