Butterfly-hunting silver mouth wasp

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Butterfly-hunting silver mouth wasp
Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Order : Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera)
Superfamily : Apoidea
Family : Crabronidae
Genre : Lestica
Type : Butterfly-hunting silver mouth wasp
Scientific name
Lestica subterranea
( Fabricius , 1775)

The butterfly-hunting silver-mouth wasp ( Lestica subterranea ) is a hymenoptera from the Crabronidae family . The species is endangered by habitat destruction .

features

The wasp reaches a body length of 9 to 12 millimeters. Their compact body is colored black and has a weak yellow markings on the head and thorax . The abdomen has a pair of yellow spots on each segment. The thighs ( femora ) are colored red-brown, only their tips are yellow. The animals have silver hairs under the compound eyes. Lestica alata looks very similar to the species, but differs by wrinkled, dull areas on the sides of the thorax.

Occurrence

The species occurs only sporadically and rarely in Central Europe. Open, sandy habitats are populated, preferably inland dunes . The animals fly from May to August.

Way of life

The butterfly-hunting silver- mouth wasp provides its brood with adult butterflies, especially glass-winged butterflies (Sesiidae) and oak moths ( Tortrix viridiana ). The nest is created in small colonies. For this purpose, a downward sloping passage is often dug into the loose sand at slightly inclined places. In flight, the prey is only grabbed by the antennae, which allows the moths to flap their wings during flight.

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