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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 » Cockroach Wasps (Ampulicidae) » Ampulex » Ampulex canaliculata
Photo#874561
Ampulicid and Parcoblatta - Ampulex canaliculata
Copyright © 2013 Eleanor Proctor

Ampulicid and Parcoblatta - Ampulex canaliculata
Go Home Bay, Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada
September 21, 2013
These two were on my dining room table at my cottage. The cockroach was alive and would slowly walk a few millimeters if I touched it. The ampulicid hid under the piece of card, periodically coming out to check on the roach. It had snipped off the roach's antennae (visible in the picture). I kept checking on this pair but the wasp disappeared after a couple of hours, and the cockroach was gone by the next morning.

Images of this individual: tag all
Ampulicid and Parcoblatta - Ampulex canaliculata Ampulicid and Parcoblatta - Parcoblatta pennsylvanica
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Contributed by Eleanor Proctor on 10 December, 2013 - 11:54am
Last updated 19 December, 2013 - 1:52pm

Roach is Periplaneta americana?
It looks similar to American Roach nymph pictures I have seen on the internet.
… Walter Nathaniel Long, 27 February, 2014 - 8:37pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… Eric R. Eaton, 19 December, 2013 - 1:52pm login or register to post comments

Priceless!
The roach is probably P. virginica, a nymph. The Cockroach Wasp is Ampulex canaliculata. It has already stung the roach and was probably trying to drag it by the antenna base to it's nest, which is also in wood. There it will lay an egg on the underside of the roach, and cap it's nest with bits of wood and leaves. When the egg hatches, it will feed on the paralyzed, but sill live roach. The wasp larva will overwinter as a larva, pupating next spring and emerge as an adult next May-June. Fascinating life cycle!

Just as an aside, I have learned that keeping firewood out of the cottage will eliminate the roaches. The roaches also lay their eggs in wood, and it can be a never-ending cycle of invasion!
… Lee Penner, 10 December, 2013 - 4:40pm login or register to post comments

 
Thank you!
Thanks for the IDs, information, and the firewood tip!
… Eleanor Proctor, 10 December, 2013 - 5:44pm login or register to post comments

 
Antennae
These wasps sometimes bite the antennae off of host roaches to drink the hemolymph. (Source: 'Solitary Wasps, Behavior and Natural History' by Kevin M. O'Neill)
… Travis Owen, 2 December, 2016 - 8:55am login or register to post comments

great job capturing this dramatic scene
… v belov, 10 December, 2013 - 11:59am login or register to post comments

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