Scoliidae

Scoliidae
Black flower wasp (Scolia soror), Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Euarthropoda
Class:Insecta
Order:Hymenoptera
Superfamily:Vespoidea
Family:Scoliidae
Subfamilies

Scoliinae
Proscoliinae

The Scoliidae, the scoliid wasps, are a family of about 560 species found worldwide. They tend to be black, often marked with yellow or orange, and their wing tips are distinctively corrugated. Males are more slender and elongated than females, with significantly longer antennae, but the sexual dimorphism is not as apparent as in the Tiphiidae.

Megascolia procer, Indonesia

Scoliid wasps are solitary parasitoids of scarab beetle larvae. Female scoliids burrow into the ground in search of these larvae and then use their sting to paralyze them. They will sometimes excavate a chamber and move the paralyzed beetle larva into it before depositing an egg. Scoliid wasps act as important biocontrol agents, as many of the beetles they parasitize are pests, including the Japanese beetle. Male scoliids patrol territories, ready to mate with females emerging from the ground. Adult wasps may be minor pollinators of some plants and can he found on many wildflowers in the late summer.

Scoliidae also has at least one species known to engage in pseudocopulation with an orchid. Flowers of the Geoblasta pennicillata orchid in subtropical South America resemble female Campsomeris bistrimacula wasps, tricking males into attempting to mate and, in the process, provide pollination. Scoliids include some of the largest wasps in the world, with only the similarly large tarantula hawk wasps rivaling them in size.

Taxonomy[1]

Subfamily: Proscoliinae

  • Proscolia (Rasnitsyn 1977)[2]

Subfamily: Scoliinae

Tribe: Campsomerini

  • Aelocampsomeris
  • Australelis
  • Campsomeriella
  • Campsomeris
  • Cathimeris
  • Charimeris
  • Colpa
  • Colpacampsomeris
  • Dasyscolia
  • Dielis
  • Extrameris
  • Guigliana
  • Laevicampsomeris
  • Leomeris
  • Lissocampsomeris
  • Megacampsomeris
  • Megameris
  • Micromeriella
  • Peltatimeris
  • Phalerimeris
  • Pseudotrielis
  • Pygodasis
  • Radumeris
  • Rhabdotimeris
  • Sphenocampsomeris
  • Stygocampsomeris
  • Tenebromeris
  • Trisciloa
  • Tristimeris
  • Turbatimeris
  • Xanthocampsomeris

Tribe: Scoliini

North American species list:[3]

There are about 20 species in North America north of Mexico. Species include:

  • Campsomeriella annulata (Fabricius 1793) (introduced species)
  • Micromeriella marginella (Klug 1810) (introduced species)
  • Dielis dorsata (Fabricius 1787)
  • Dielis pilipes (Saussure 1858)
  • Dielis plumipes (Drury 1770)
  • Dielis tolteca (Saussure 1857)
  • Dielis trifasciata (Fabricius 1793)
  • Pygodasis ephippium (Say 1837)
  • Pygodasis quadrimaculata (Fabricus 1775)
  • Xanthocampsomeris completa (Rohwer 1927)
  • Xanthocampsomeris fulvohirta (Cresson 1865)
  • Xanthocampsomeris hesterae (Rohwer 1921)
  • Xanthocampsomeris limosa (Burmeister 1853)
  • Colpa octomaculata (Say 1823)
  • Colpa pollenifera (Viereck 1906)
  • Colpa (Crioscolia) alcione (Banks 1917)
  • Colpa (Crioscolia) flammicoma (Bradley 1928)
  • Scolia bicincta (Fabricius 1775) – double-banded scoliid
  • Scolia dubia (Say 1837) – blue-winged wasp
  • Scolia guttata (Burmeister 1853)
  • Scolia mexicana (Saussure 1858)
  • Scolia nobilitata (Fabricius 1805)
  • Triscolia ardens (Smith 1855)

References

  1. ↑ "Full list of Scoliidae and their Genus (German)" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-06-24.
  2. ↑ http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=164920
  3. ↑ "NOMINA INSECTA NEARCTICA" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-10-10.

First Confirmed Case of Pseudocopulation in Terrestrial Orchids of South America


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