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Genus Pachodynerus

Representative Images

Wasp? - Pachodynerus erynnis - female Wasp - Pachodynerus erynnis - male Euodynerus or Ancistrocerus sp?  - Pachodynerus guadulpensis Euodynerus? - Pachodynerus erynnis tiny wasp - Pachodynerus erynnis Wasp on Spring Island - Pachodynerus erynnis - female Small Wasp - Pachodynerus erynnis Pachodynerus pulverulentus - Pachodynerus

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 Eumeninae (Potter and Mason Wasps)
Genus Pachodynerus

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

revised in(1); our fauna reviewed in(2) (nomenclature obsolete)

Explanation of Names

Pachodynerus Saussure 1870
from the Greek παχύς (pachús) 'thick' + the genus Odynerus
from the Greek ὀδύνη (odynē) 'pain or distress' + Latin erus 'master of the house or family, owner, proprietor'

Numbers

5 spp. in our area(2), 45 total(3)

Identification

P. californicus - a restricted species known only from southern California and Baja California, Mexico. The markings are ivory to light yellow, with abdominal bands restricted to the margins of T1 and T2.


P. erynnis - a distinctive species and our only red-marked species of Pachodynerus. It can be separated from red-and-black species in other genera by the lack of a reddish spot behind the eyes.


P. guadulpensis - a yellow-marked species with abdominal bands on all segments. It can be separated from the cryptic P. nasidens / P. pulverulentus pair by the additional band on T1.


P. nasidens - a yellow-marked species with abdominal bands beginning on T2. Often not separable from P. pulverulentus from photos where the two co-occur in Texas and Arizona. The only of the pair to occur in FL. Under microscopy(1)(2): ocellar area with distinct ridges, fore femur with a distinct longitudinal carina, scutum with dense golden pubescence, abdomen with punctation on T2 throughout gradually decreasing toward the anterior.


P. pulverulentus - a yellow-marked species with abdominal bands beginning on T2. Often not separable from P. nasidens from photos where the two co-occur in Texas and Arizona. The only of the pair to occur in CA and NV. Under microscopy(1)(2): ocellar area lacking ridges, fore femur lacking a carina, scutum with sparse silvery-yellow pubescence, abdomen with punctation on T2 restricted to the apical margin (otherwise impunctate).

Range

New World, most diverse in S. America(1)

Works Cited

1.Revisión del género Pachodynerus Saussure (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Eumeninae)
Willink A., Roig-Alsina A. 1998. Contrib. Am. Entomol. Inst. 30: 1-117.
2.The genus Pachodynerus in North America (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae)
Carpenter J.M. 1986. Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 88: 572-577.
3.Vespidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Puerto Rico, West Indies
Carpenter J.M., Genaro J.A. 2011. Insecta Mundi 0202: 1-35.