Short-handled sand wasps
Short-handled sand wasps | ||||||||||||
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Systematics | ||||||||||||
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Podalonia | ||||||||||||
Fernald , 1927 |
The short- handled sand wasps ( Podalonia ) are a genus of digger wasps (Spheciformes) from the family Sphecidae . The genus is distributed worldwide, with the exception of South America, and includes 66 species. There are 36 species in the Palearctic and 11 species in Europe. Four species are native to Central Europe.
features
The short -stalked sand wasps are similar to the sand wasps ( Ammophila ), but have a significantly shorter and only one-limbed handle at the base of the abdomen and have a somewhat stronger body. The thorax has small white felt spots.
Way of life
The females create their nests in the sand. These only have one cell. The brood is supplied with large, hairless caterpillars of owl butterflies (Noctuidae). The caterpillars, which are hidden in the ground during the day, are tracked down and dug up by the females. The caterpillars defend themselves strongly and beat around wildly with the front and rear parts of the body, but the females stab them in the belly and thereby paralyze them. The head of the caterpillar is then malaxed by the mandibles, i.e. kneaded, but in such a way that no external injuries occur. Unlike most digger wasps, the female lays the nest only after the hunt. In the meantime, the caterpillar will be deposited nearby. However, there are also species that sometimes lay their nests first, such as the North African Podalonia ebenina .
Species (Europe)
- Podalonia affinis ( W. Kirby , 1798)
- Podalonia alpina ( cabbage , 1888)
- Podalonia atrocyanea ( Eversmann , 1849)
- Podalonia fera ( Lepeletier , 1845)
- Podalonia hirsuta ( Scopoli , 1763)
- Podalonia luffii ( Saunders , 1903)
- Podalonia mauritanica ( Mercet , 1906)
- Podalonia merceti ( cabbage , 1906)
- Podalonia minax ( cabbage , 1901)
- Podalonia rothi ( Beaumont , 1951)
- Podalonia tydei ( Le Guillou , 1841)
supporting documents
literature
- Manfred Blösch: The digger wasps in Germany: way of life, behavior, distribution . 1st edition. Goecke & Evers, 2000, ISBN 3-931374-26-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Manfred Blösch: The digger wasps in Germany: way of life, behavior, distribution . 1st edition. Goecke & Evers, 2000, ISBN 3-931374-26-2 , pp. 119 f .
- ↑ Podalonia. Fauna Europaea, accessed July 24, 2010 .