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Subfamily Eumeninae - Potter and Mason Wasps

Boy, do these stand out in a crowd (of hon*ey bees) - Ancistrocerus adiabatus - female Ancistrocerus Potter Wasp - Eumenes fraternus Parancistrocerus? Wasp sp. - Euodynerus Wasp - Pachodynerus californicus Euodynerus hidalgo What kind of wasp ? - Symmorphus
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 (Hornets, Yellowjackets; Paper, Potter, Mason, and Pollen Wasps; and Allies)
Subfamily Eumeninae (Potter and Mason Wasps)
Other Common Names
Mason wasps - these species generally nest in pre-existing cavities in wood, rock, or other substrate. Mud may be used internally to separate cells but is not as dominant. Some species are known as keyhole wasps.
Potter wasps - these species generally build free-standing nests out of mud, often with a spherical mud envelope.
Explanation of Names
Eumeninae Saussure, 1852
Numbers
>260 spp. in 25 genera in our area(1), >170 genera total
Size
10‒20 mm(2)
Identification
key to genera of the continental US & Canada in (3)
A few genera can be identified by the distinctive shape of their abdomen:
First two abdominal segments forming a tapered petiole linking abdomen and thorax: Eumenes, Zethus, Minixi, and Zeta.
Abdomen blunt where it meets thorax, with no obvious petiole. Large, common wasps, with bold pattern: Monobia
Range
worldwide
Habitat
All habitats from northern boreal forests to the deserts of the southwest
Season
Throughout the warm season, year-round in the south
Food
Eumenines prey mainly upon moth larvae, although some take larvae of leaf-feeding beetles. Adults take nectar.
Life Cycle
Most species nest in pre-existing cavities (e.g., old borings in wood, hollow stems, rock crevices) and use mud (less commonly sand) for partitions between brood cells ―thus 'mason wasps.' Some make nests in the ground (e.g., all Pterocheilus, Odynerus, many Euodynerus). Some ground-nesting species build mud turrets over the entrance (O. dilectus, E. annulatus). 'Potter wasps' make free-standing nests of mud, e.g. Eumenes and Zeta.
Remarks
Cleptoparasites and parasites of eumenine wasps include members of Chrysididae, Mutillidae, and Sarcophagidae as those most commonly reared from nests.
Works Cited
1.Nearctic Hymenoptera other (Discover Life's IDnature guide)
2.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
3.Ancistroceroides de Saussure, a Potter Wasp Genus New for the United States, with a New Key to the Genera of Eumeninae N. of Mex
Carpenter, James M. . 2004. Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 77(4): 721-741.
4.Identification Atlas of the Vespidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata) of the Northeastern Nearctic Region
Matthias Buck, Stephen A. Marshall, and David K. B. Cheung. 2008. Biological Survey of Canada [Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification].