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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » "Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps » Proctotrupoidea » Pelecinid Wasps (Pelecinidae) » Pelecinus » American Pelecinid Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator)

Species Pelecinus polyturator - American Pelecinid Wasp

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Is this a ichneumon wasp? We have never seen one of these before. - Pelecinus polyturator - female Pelecinus polyturator - female Insect 42 - Pelecinus polyturator - female Wasp - Pelecinus polyturator - female Wasp - Pelecinus polyturator - female Pennsylvania Wasp - Pelecinus polyturator - female Pelecinus polyturator male - Pelecinus polyturator - male Pelecinus polyturator - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon ("Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps)
Superfamily Proctotrupoidea
Family Pelecinidae (Pelecinid Wasps)
Genus Pelecinus
Species polyturator (American Pelecinid Wasp)
Other Common Names
American Pelecinid
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Pelecinus polyturator (Drury 1773)
May be a complex of species. A number of color variants have been described, especially in the tropics, but most sources say that the family is represented by a single species north of Mexico.(1)
Size
♀♀ 51-62 mm, ♂♂ 12-15 or 25 mm
Identification
Female is distinctive--abdomen 5X the length of the rest of the body. Abdomen has six segments. Males are smaller, with swollen tip of abdomen; they are seldom seen. Hindwings of both sexes very short, 1/3 length of forewings.
Range
e. half of NA + sw. US(2) to Argentina
Habitat
Forests, esp. deciduous forests
Season
mostly: July-Oct (BG data)
Food
Adults reported to take nectar.
Larvae feed on May Beetle grubs in the soil, Phyllophaga spp. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae).
Life Cycle
Parasitoids of insect larvae that feed on decomposing wood, etc. These include larvae of scarab beetles, esp. May Beetles (Phyllophaga). Also reported to parasitize wood-boring insects. Female thrusts its long abdomen and ovipositor into soil to detect host, lays one egg on each. Pelecinid larva burrows into the beetle larva, killing it. Wasp larva scavenges remains and pupates there in soil.
In North American populations, males are rare--just a few examples here:
  
In temperate populations reproduction is apparently largely by parthenogenesis/thelytoky (Brues 1928). In the tropics males are more abundant, so presumably sexual reproduction is common.
Mating pair
Remarks
Males are scarce in general, but their scarcity is more pronounced in certain populations, that are suspected to be parthenogenetic (Geographic variation in sex ratio of P. polyturator).
Print References
Baker, p. --description, habits (3)
Brues, Charles T., 1928. A note on the genus Pelecinus. Psyche 35: 205-209 (Full text)
Bennett. 2003. Host location behaviour in Pelecinus polyturator. J. Entom. Soc. Ont.
Geographic variation in sex ratio of P. polyturator
Mating Behavior of Pelecinus polyturator PDF
Internet References
Bug Eric The American Pelecinid Wasp
Beetles in the Bush--An elegant living fossil…
Info page from a University of Wisconson web site.
Works Cited
1.Revision of the proctotrupoid genus Pelecinus Latreille (Hymenoptera: Pelecinidae).
2.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
3.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
Contributed by Cotinis on 10 September, 2004 - 9:13pm
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Mike Quinn, Aaron Schusteff, v belov, marcie oconnor, metrioptera, PaleoJon, Nathaniel Green
Last updated 21 July, 2022 - 3:51pm

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