Methocha ichneumonides
| Methocha ichneumonides | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Methocha ichneumonides | ||||||||||||
| Latreille , 1805 |
Methocha ichneumonides is a Hymenoptera from the family of tiphiidae (Tiphiidae).
features
The animals reach a body length of 5 to 8 millimeters (females) or 10 to 14 millimeters (males). The head and abdomen are black, the rest of the body is shiny reddish in color. The males have hairy compound eyes and have an appendage on the clypeus .
Occurrence
The species is common in North Africa and Europe. It colonizes mainly temperature-favored, sandy habitats, e.g. B. gravel pits in which their hosts also live. However, where they occur they are apparently also found in other biotopes. The animals occur in one generation from the beginning of June to the end of August. They are rare in Central Europe.
Way of life
Methocha ichneumonides parasitizes the larvae of tiger beetles (Cicindelinae). The species is mainly active in slightly cooler temperatures. The females track down the trap funnel of their hosts, allow themselves to be caught by the beetle larvae, but escape their mandibles due to their slim physique. The female very quickly reaches the back of the head, whereupon the larva stretches its head backwards. Methocha ichneumonides takes advantage of this to sting the larva into the unprotected throat or front hip. The larva is stung several times and is then pulled into the tube by the wasp. There the female lays an egg on her. In rare cases the larva leaves its tube during its fight and then has to be carried back into it by the wasp. After the eggs have been laid, the tube is closed with sand or tiny stones. The males track down the females with their good sense of smell and can be observed in large numbers shortly before a female hatches.
swell
literature
- Rolf Witt: Wasps. Observe, determine. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1998, ISBN 3-89440-243-1 .