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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea sans Anthophila – Apoid Wasps » Thread-waisted Wasps (Sphecidae) » Ammophilinae » Eremnophila » Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp (Eremnophila aureonotata)

Species Eremnophila aureonotata - Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Works Cited
Eremnophila aureonotata? - Eremnophila aureonotata - male - female Black wasp with white spots - Eremnophila aureonotata Mating Eremnophila aureonotata? - Eremnophila aureonotata - male - female Thread-waisted Wasp? - Eremnophila aureonotata Thread Waist Wasp? - Eremnophila aureonotata Unidentified insect 0712202001 - Eremnophila aureonotata - male Thread-waisted Wasp - Eremnophila aureonotata Wasp? - Eremnophila aureonotata
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)
No Taxon (Apoidea sans Anthophila – Apoid Wasps)
Family Sphecidae (Thread-waisted Wasps)
Subfamily Ammophilinae
Genus Eremnophila
Species aureonotata (Gold-marked Thread-waisted Wasp)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Eremnophila aureonotata (Cameron 1888)
Explanation of Names
aureonotata = from the Latin aureo ('made of gold or golden') + notāta ('marked'); 'gold-marked'
Size
20-22 mm length (1)
Identification
In this area, a distinctive thread-waisted wasp. The coloration is black with slight blue reflections, two silvery to golden patches of setae on each side of the thorax, and another pair on the propodeum. Males have more extensive pile on face than do the females.
Range
e. NA to TX and Costa Rica(2)
Habitat
Old fields near deciduous or other(?) woodlands. The wasp is commonly found on wildflowers with large clusters of blossoms, such as Queen Anne's Lace. Mating pairs on flowers are common.
Season
Jun-Oct in NC(3); in MI, Jun-Sep, mostly Jul-Aug(4)
Food
Adults take nectar; larvae feed on larval Noctuidae, Notodontidae (especially), Sphingidae, and Hesperidae (host list - web archive)
Life Cycle
Female digs burrow and provisions it with a single large caterpillar--see species account (4).
Caterpillars of prominent moths are the preferred hosts:
Remarks
It is odd that this distinctively marked, common (if not abundant) North American wasp was missed by early entomologists, such as Thomas Say. The species was not described formally until 1888 based on collections from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico (original description).
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2024) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
3.Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.
4.The Sphecid Wasps of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Sphecinae), by M.F. O'Brien
Contributed by Cotinis on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, v belov, PaleoJon
Last updated 11 July, 2022 - 3:28pm

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