American Pelecinid Wasp

Pelecinus polyturator

Summary 11

Pelecinus polyturator is a large (up to 7 cm) glossy black wasp, the most common and familiar species in the family Pelecinidae. The adults drink nectar. They live in crop fields, woods, and suburban gardens throughout North, Central, and South America. Their antennae are long and the females have an elongated, cylindrical, articulated metasoma. They are parasitoids that lay their eggs directly into grubs of the June beetle (genus Phyllophaga) buried in the soil. The adults can...

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) mtovar, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
  2. (c) Dagwald, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/dagwald/1050011079/
  3. (c) Gabriel Legaré, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/experidoum/4876207492/
  4. (c) drainhook, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/drainhook/997283467/
  5. (c) Kristin, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/beautyredefined/2935850676/
  6. (c) hspauldi, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/hspauldi/208123356/
  7. anonymous, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://images.dev.morphbank.net/?id=102201&imgType=jpg
  8. anonymous, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://images.dev.morphbank.net/?id=102204&imgType=jpg
  9. anonymous, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://images.dev.morphbank.net/?id=104178&imgType=jpg
  10. (c) Terry Rosenmeier, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Terry Rosenmeier
  11. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelecinus_polyturator

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