Chlorine ion

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Chlorine ion
Chlorion hirtum

Chlorion hirtum

Systematics
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily : Apoidea
without rank: Digger wasps (Spheciformes)
Family : Sphecidae
Subfamily : Sphecinae
Genre : Chlorine ion
Scientific name
Chlorine ion
Latreille , 1802

Chlorion is a genus of digger wasps (Spheciformes) from the family Sphecidae . Apart from the polar regions, the very widespread genus is only absent on the continents of Europe and Australia and comprises 18 species. So far, nothing is known about the biology of most of the species, some of which are very large and colorful. The two ancient species studied so far are largely parasitoid and do not build nests; In terms of their reproduction, they are the most primitive type within the entire Sphecidae.

description

size

The genus includes large to very large species with body lengths of around 17 mm for the smallest to a maximum of 37 mm for the largest species, according to C. Giles Roche also up to 38 mm.

coloring

In a third of the species, the body is completely metallic green or blue in at least one sex. In all New World species at least the thorax is colored like this, but in some South American species the abdomen ( gaster ) and legs are partially or completely red. With the exception of C. lobatum , which also has a metallic sheen , all ancient species are black or black and red, but the Gaster often shows a trend towards metallic sheen. The wings are translucent, yellow or dark purple, depending on the species. The sexes are colored differently in some species, some other species show polymorphism in terms of coloration .

morphology

The propodeum shows a "U" -shaped inclusion, which is delimited at least at the rear edge by a semicircular fold or depression. The tooth of the claw member is usually in the middle. The frontal plate ( clypeus ) of the females usually has five large teeth, rarely only two or four. The antennae in females flow smoothly into the frontoclypeal fold, in males the distance between the antennae is less than the diameter of an antennae. The sternites IV and V are bald or sparsely hairy at most in males.

distribution

The very widespread genus is only missing on the continents of Europe and Australia . The genus is widespread in the Americas and occurs from Canada in the north to Argentina in the south. In the Old World, the genus is widespread mainly from northeast Africa to southwest Asia. Only one species, C. maxillosum , inhabits large parts of Africa. The only large islands inhabited by the genus are Sri Lanka , Sumatra, and Java .

Systematics

Pulawski recognizes 20 species:

Way of life

Four of the 20 species of the genus have been examined in more detail so far, nothing is known about the way of life of the other 16 species. The two ancient species studied so far are largely parasitoid and do not build nests; In terms of their reproduction, they represent the most primitive type within the entire Sphecidae . Three species examined in more detail are each specialized in one or more species of cricket , the fourth species examined uses a cockroach as larval food .

The African species C. maxillosum digs for its prey, the cricket Brachytrupes megacephalus . In their burrow or, if the cricket escapes from it, on the surface of the ground, C. maxillosum briefly anesthetizes the cricket with a sting and lays an egg on the abdomen next to the first abdominal stigma . The cricket wakes up after a few minutes and, if it is on the surface of the earth, digs a new burrow. The wasp larva feeds on the cricket until it dies and pupates in its burrow.

In the case of C. lobatum , which is widespread in the tropics of Asia ( Paläotropis ) , the reproductive behavior is somewhat more developed. The females proceed in a similar way to C. maxillosum until they lay eggs . After they have caused the host, the cricket Brachytrupes achatinus , to escape from the burrow and then briefly anesthetized, they lay an egg on the host animal, but then usually pull the host animal back into the burrow with their mandibles and seal it with soil.

C. aerarium , which lives in large parts of North America, shows a much more advanced reproductive behavior, which is largely similar to that of many other species of the Sphecidae. The species creates nests itself and apparently before the hunt, although it mostly takes over and expands buildings of the digger wasp Sphecius speciosus and only rarely digs new nest tubes itself. The nests each contain two brood cells. The wasp supplies a cell with up to seven crickets that are flown or pulled to the nest. The crickets remain paralyzed until they die.

The also North American Chlorion cyaneum resembles C. aerarium in its reproductive behavior , but the cockroach Arenivaga bolliana serves as larval food . The nests usually contain only one, rarely 2 or 3 brood cells, each of which is provided with 1 to 9 cockroaches. The wasp larva hatches after 2 days and then eats the paralyzed cockroaches. After 5 to 7 days, it spins the pupation cocoon, which is ready after about 2 days. The pupae overwinter, the wasps hatch in May of the following year.

swell

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c RM Bohart, AS Menke 1976: Sphecid wasps of the world. A generic revision. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles: p. 89
  2. ^ C. Giles Roche: Conspectus of the Sphecid wasps of Egypt (Hymenoptera: Ampulicidae, Sphecidae, Crabronidae). Egyptian Journal of Natural History 4, 2007,: pp. 12-149, here pp. 33-34.
  3. ↑ RM Bohart, AS Menke 1976: Sphecid wasps of the world. A generic revision. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles: p. 86
  4. ^ WJ Pulawski: Catalog of Sphecidae sensu lato - Genus Chlorion. ( Online as PDF  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Accessed August 5, 2011)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / research.calacademy.org  
  5. ↑ RM Bohart, AS Menke 1976: Sphecid wasps of the world. A generic revision. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles: p. 82
  6. ↑ David J. Peckham; Frank Kurczewski: Nesting Behavior of Chlorion aerarium. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Volume 71, Number 5, 1978: pp. 758-761
  7. ^ Allan W. Hook: Nesting Behavior of Chlorion cyaneum (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae), a Predator of Cockroaches (Blattaria: Polyphagidae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society, 77 (4), 2004: pp. 558-564.

literature

  • RM Bohart, AS Menke 1976: Sphecid wasps of the world. A generic revision. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles: pp. 86 and 88-90