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

Subfamily Masarinae - Pollen Wasps

Pseudomasaris vespoides - male Wasp - Pseudomasaris - female Pseudomasaris wheeleri - male Pseudomasaris vespoides - male Pseudomasaris wheeleri - male Pollen-Wasp on Phacelia ramosissima - Pseudomasaris coquilletti - female Odd Wasp - Pseudomasaris edwardsii - male Pseudomasaris coquilletti nest - Pseudomasaris coquilletti - male - 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 (Yellowjackets and Hornets, Paper Wasps; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps and allies)
Family Vespidae (Yellowjackets and Hornets, Paper Wasps; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps)
Subfamily Masarinae (Pollen Wasps)
Numbers
14 spp. in our area (all Pseudomasaris), ~300 spp. in 14 genera of 2 tribes total(1)
Size
10-20 mm
Identification
Yellow (or white) and black. FW with only two submarginal cells. Clubbed antennae are distinctive.
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 12 March, 2022 - 6:55pm

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