Genus Ripiphorus

Rhipiphorus (widely used unjustified emendation to conform conventional English transliteration of Greek), Rhipidophorus (unjustified emendation), Dorthesia Say 1823, Myodes Latreille 1818, Myodites Latreille 1819

Ripiphorus Bosc 1791

~30 spp. in our area, ~70 spp. worldwide(1)

Key to CA spp. in(2)

Body appears wasp-like...with very short elytra (looking like large tegula) and long, exposed wings...but with very un-wasp-like antennae.

Male antennae are biflabellate (each joint with two rami/branches) and the rami usually of roughly equal size at each joint of the relatively short main axis of the antennae.

Female antennae monoflabellate (=each joint with a single ramus), the rami often tapering markedly towards the end of the antennae.

See males and females together:

Females on vegetation/flowers; males around host colonies, presumably in anticipation of newly emerging females(1)

Larvae are parasites of ground-nesting bees(1); in CA, mainly Nomia and Diadasia(2)

Females lay eggs on flowers (often on buds). Eggs hatch into active first stadium larvae (triungulins) which hitch a ride on bees to their nests. Once there they feed on the brood: first as internal parasites, and later in their development as external parasites...a habit otherwise almost unknown in Coleoptera(2)

Adults are very short-lived: in many species the males live no longer than a day; females may be similarly short-lived but tend emerge over a longer period.

Females are more commonly seen than males because they visit flowers to deposit eggs; and males are shorter lived.

(3)(4)

Type specimens: R. californicus · R. calopterus · R. luteipennis · R. nevadicus · R. popenoi · R. scaber · R. schwarzi · R. semiflavus · R. vierecki · R. walshii