Subfamily Masarinae - Pollen Wasps

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Print References · Works Cited

Male Pseudomasaris from northeast CA - Pseudomasaris zonalis - male

Bee or wasp on Penstemon scariosus - Pseudomasaris vespoides - male

I look like Vespula but I'm not -- who am I? - Pseudomasaris vespoides - female

Pseudomasaris - Pseudomasaris marginalis - female

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

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

Superfamily Vespoidea

Family Vespidae

Subfamily Masarinae (Pollen Wasps)

Explanation of Names

Masarinae Latreille 1802

Numbers

14 spp. in our area (all Pseudomasaris), ~300 spp. in 14 genera of 2 tribes total(1)

Size

10‒20 mm

Identification

Clubbed antennae distinctive; FW with two submarginal cells.

key to NA spp. in(2)

Range

worldwide; in NA, western(1)

Food

larvae (unlike those of other vespids) feed on pollen and nectar

Life Cycle

The females make nests of mud or sand attached to twigs or rocks. They provision the nests with pollen and nectar and lay their eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae that eat the provisions, then pupate and emerge as adults.

Print References

Bradley J.C. (1922) The taxonomy of the Masarid wasps, including a monograph of the North American species. UC Publ. Entomol. 1: 369-464. (Full text)

(3)

Works Cited

1.	Checklist of species of the subfamily Masarinae (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) Carpenter J.M. 2001. American Museum novitates 3325. 40 pp.

2.	New records of Pseudomasaris Ashmead (Hymenoptera:Vespoidea, Masaridae), with notes on P. phaceliae Rohwer and P. cazieri Bohart Richards O.W. 1966. Proc. R. Ent. Soc. London (B) 35(3-4): 47-55.

3.	The Pollen Wasps Sarah K. Gess. 1996.

Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 28 June, 2005 - 5:08pm
Additional contributions by Matthias Buck, Bbarnd, Chuck Entz, waspGeorge, Aaron Schusteff, v belov, Nathaniel Green
Last updated 27 September, 2023 - 3:19pm

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