Gyro wasp

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Gyro wasp
Gyroscopic wasp closing the living tube

Gyroscopic wasp closing the living tube

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily : Apoidea
Family : Crabronidae
Genre : Bembix
Type : Gyro wasp
Scientific name
Bembix rostrata
( Fabricius , 1781)
Open sand area as a typical habitat for the gyro wasp

The specially protected gyro wasp ( Bembix rostrata ) is one of the most conspicuous digger wasps in Central Europe. The genus Bembix is widespread with over 340 species worldwide, particularly species-rich in Australia and Africa, especially in warm areas with open, sandy soils. Bembix rostrata is the only species in Germany; there is another species in southern Central Europe ( Bembix tarsata ).

distribution

The distribution area of ​​the gyratory wasp extends from Europe and the Mediterranean to Central Asia. It goes north in Europe to Denmark and Sweden. One of the main areas of distribution in Germany is the Rhine plain. More and more new evidence is available from Brandenburg, whereas it has not been observed in Westphalia since 1960. Overall, a sharp decline in the species bound to dry, warm sandy areas has been observed in Germany.

features

The German name is derived from their special behavior in front of the nest. The animals dig their ground tubes up and down with synchronized and fast movements of their front legs. They can also turn very quickly on their own axis, with the flapping of the wings making a whirring noise similar to that of a top. Characteristic is their size, the clearly greenish-yellow and black marked abdomen and the upper lip widened to a pointed beak.

Way of life

Gyroscopic wasp with brood care

The 15 to 24 millimeter large animals occur in colonies of a few dozen to several hundred animals, in which the females create a tube up to 20 centimeters deep in open sandy soils that contains only one brood cell. This is equipped with dozens of insects, mostly larger flies ( Tabanidae , Syrphidae ), which serve the larvae as food for their roughly two-week development into an imago . The nesting tube is carefully closed again after each feeding. Because of this intensive brood care, a female can only bring through a maximum of eight larvae in midsummer. Gyroscopic wasps are very faithful to their location, they often nest in the same places for years, even if these change over time and alternative biotopes are available.

In particular, the decline in larger open sand areas in warm areas, such as on the sand dunes of the Upper Rhine Graben , has made the wasp rare. In addition, it also has natural enemies, especially parasites such as Bombyliidae , Conopidae and Mutillidae . A parasitoid that specializes in the gyroscopic wasp is the golden wasp Parnopes grandior .

The great natural scientist Jean-Henri Fabre (1823–1915) had already initiated intensive studies into the behavior of the gyroscopic wasp.

literature

  • Blösch, M. (2000): Germany's digger wasps - Germany's animal world, 71. 480 pp .; Goecke & Evers, wine presses.
  • Evans, HE (1957): Studies on the comparative ethology of digger wasps of the genus Bembix . - 248 pp .; Ithaca: Comstock.
  • Hemmingson, AM & Nielson, ET (1925): On the vital instincts of the Danish Bembix rostrata L. - Entomologiske Meddelelser 16: 14-127; Copenhagen.

Web links

Commons : Gyroscope  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files