Ragwort cicada wasp
| Ragwort cicada wasp | ||||||||||||
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Ragwort cicada wasp ( Argogorytes mystaceus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Argogorytes mystaceus | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1761) |
The Ragwort cicada wasp ( Argogorytes mystaceus ) is a hymenoptera from the Crabronidae family .
features
The animals reach a body length of 10 to 14 millimeters (females) or 8 to 11 millimeters (males). Their body is yellow-black in color. The second sternite is basal with distinctive pit-shaped points. The female has a continuous yellow band on the fourth tergite of the abdomen. The penultimate antennae in the males is 2.5 times as long as it is wide. The similar Argogorytes fargeii can be distinguished by a less pronounced puncture on the second sternite and by a less clearly developed yellow band in the females.
Occurrence
The species occurs in Europe north to approximately the Arctic Circle and in Turkey . It inhabits warm to very cool habitats with strong vegetation and abundant flower growth on sandy soils. You can find them in the mountains up to heights of over 1000 meters. Moist biotopes in the vicinity of their habitats are necessary for the supply of prey. The animals fly in one generation from mid-May to mid-August. The species is widespread in Central Europe.
Way of life
The females of Argogorytes mystaceus lay their nests in the ground. Several horizontal corridors lead to the individual cells from a vertical main corridor about 10 centimeters long. The brood is supplied with larvae of foam cicadas , especially meadow foam cicadas ( Philaenus spumarius ). For this purpose, the foam of their nests is removed with the front legs and the larvae are then paralyzed by stings. The adults are often found on umbellifers . The males of this species are attracted by the fly ragwort ( Ophrys insectifera ) for pollination ( pseudocopulation ). Argogorytes mystaceus is parasitized by the cuckoo wasp Nysson spinosus .
swell
literature
- Rolf Witt: Wasps. Observe, determine. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-243-1 .