Numbers
19 spp. in our area,
(1) 66 spp. worldwide
(2)
1.
P. argentifrons: western US and Canada
3. P. caerulea: CA, ID
4. P. clypeata: western US to MN
5. P. communis: western (west of 100°W)
6. P. compacta: CA, OR
7.
P. luctuosa: northwestern to northeastern
8.
P. meleana: western US
9. P. mexicana: western US and Canada
10. P. mickeli: western US and Canada to MN
11. P. occidentalis: western US
12. P. parallela: CA
13. P. pubescens: AZ-TX
14. P. puncta: KS, CO, OK, TX, NM
15.
P. robusta: widespread
16. P. sericea: western US and Canada to ND & SD
17. P. sonorensis: western (west of 100°W)
18. P. valida: western US and Canada to MN
19. P. violaceipennis: eastern US to CO
Identification
Similar to
Ammophila, but petiole typically shorter (appearing to involve a single segment) and flares upward at a steeper angle at the abdomen; whereas in
Ammophila the petiole is proportionately longer (appearing to involve two segments) and tapers more gradually, meeting the abdomen at a more shallow angle. In other words, the abdomen is more robust and appears bent upward at the end of the petiole (bent downward in
Ammophila)
(3):
Podalonia | Ammophila
Key to species in Murray (1940)
(4)Range
North America; Eurasia, Africa
Season
Jun-Sep (
P. violaceipennis, MN); Apr-Oct (several spp., MI
(5)); Apr-May, Sep (
P. violaceipennis, NC
(6))
Food
Larva feed on Noctuidae caterpillars (provisioned by adult female).
(7)Life Cycle
Excavate nest after finding prey, reversal of the order for most sphecids. One caterpillar is placed in each cell.
(7) P. luctuosa has two flights per year in Michigan. Second brood overwinters in burrows, sometimes with others of the species. Other species have one generation per year.
Print References
Fernald H.T. (1927) The digger wasps of North America of the genus
Podalonia (
Psammophila). Proc. U.S. Nat'l Mus 71: 1-42 (
Full text)
Kurczewski F.E., O'Brien M.F., Spofford M.G. (1992) Nesting behavior of
Podalonia robusta (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). J. Hym. Res. 1: 235-239 (
Full text)
Murray W.D. (1940)
Podalonia (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) of North and Central America. Entomologica Americana 20: 1-77. (
Full text)
O'Neill K.M., Evans H.E. (1999) Observations on the prey and nest clusters of
Podalonia valida (Cresson) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 101: 312-315 (
Full text)
