Appearance of a burrowing wasp
The sizes of burrowing wasps vary: the body length of different species can reach 2-55 millimeters.
The pronotum in the upper part looks like a roller, which is a distinctive feature of this group of wasps.
Because burrowing wasps dig into the ground, they have hard, ridge-like scutes on their front legs that act like a shovel when pushing back the soil. But it is worth noting that not all wasps of this group settle in the ground; some representatives prefer wood or plant stems.
In many burrowing wasps, the apical segment looks like a flat platform, since wasps use such segments to pull out soil and level the walls of passages.
Habitat – where do wasps live?
Habitat of the common
wasp Animals can be found all over the planet. These insects have settled across all continents. They are available in all CIS countries, Europe, Africa, Asia and America. Insects cannot be found only in the vast expanses of the Sahara, in the Arctic, and also in the Arabian Peninsula. Insects like to settle in temperate climates. Hot and frosty regions do not allow wasps to survive.
Interesting fact : in the territory of the People's Republic of China and Japan there is an extremely dangerous species of these insects. Asian hornets grow up to 6 cm and can kill an adult with one bite. They are especially dangerous for allergy sufferers. Every year in these countries, up to 50 people die after being stung by this hornet.
Most insects are found in the northern hemisphere of the planet. Some are found in Brazil. Insects choose housing based on criteria: the presence of plants where they can hide, people and a temperate climate. Living near people allows wasps to get food faster. You can live in trees and build nests from wood. Some species build nests from clay or small stones. Externally, these houses look like small castles.
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Lifestyle
Ammophila has been studied more and better than other relatives. Leads a solitary lifestyle, does not build multi-tiered nests, and does not form a wasp society of working individuals. Each female is sexually mature and lives separately from the others. Insects do not communicate with signs, do not convey warnings to each other. In behavior, the burrowing ammophila wasp is calmer, reproduces its offspring slowly, and begins to lay eggs not with the onset of spring, but in the summer.
The mission of the adult is to search for a potential victim in order to lay an egg in it. Each species chooses a specific type of prey; ammophila preys on cutworm larvae. Finds them underground, paralyzes them into a nerve node, immobilizes them. It drags it into a hole that the female has prepared in advance for the larva. Lays an egg on the body, closes the entrance, and covers it with earth.
After 3-4 days, a larva crawls out of the egg and gradually begins to eat the victim. After 14 days it completes its development cycle and pupates. It spends the winter in this position. In spring, the imago emerges from the cocoon and crawls out. Mating occurs, after which the female begins to hunt for cutworms and lay eggs. Only one generation develops per year.
On a note!
The burrowing wasp is widespread; about 10 species live in Russia. It is found in forests, fields, orchards, vegetable gardens, and summer cottages. Unique species - bee wolf, Larra amathena, ammophila, sphex.
Security
Forest wasp
The species is not considered endangered, so it is not in the Red Book. Only a few species are classified as rare in certain areas. For example, the forest wasp is listed in the Red Book of the Moscow Region. This happened due to the fact that wasps of this species are rare in those places. There are not so few insects in the forests.
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The main reason for the population decline is human actions. This is considered the main factor, because people destroy wasp nests on their own, considering them pests. From time to time, insects build nests in open areas, so they are damaged due to winds or rains.
The wasp population is declining slightly due to natural enemies. Animals are killed by predators, vermin or birds. At the moment, all habitats of forest wasps are under careful protection by environmentalists. Now it is planned to create new reserves for the protection of insects of this species.
Nesting site
As a rule, burrowing wasps (photos of some of them can be seen in this article) nest where it is safe. They dig holes for themselves in the sand, soil, and nest in the bark of trees or the stems of large plants. They do all this, following instinct, for future offspring. At the end of spring, burrowing bees begin their mating season, after which the insects lay eggs in a prepared nest.
Nest building process
The house for the offspring consists of elongated cells 3 cm long. Each of them is built and then filled with prey. Only then does the wasp begin building the next cell. Construction takes 1-2 days. The female has to make 12-15 flights to bring the required amount of dirt. After all the cells have been constructed, the nest is covered with an additional layer of dirt.
Spiders are placed in a special way; large and hard specimens are placed closer to the exit. The larva will have time to grow and get stronger before it gets to them. The wasp carries its prey through the air. She drags the first spider, backing away. An egg is laid on it. The rest of the pelopei are pushed into the hole. Over the course of a year, several generations can change. Summer offspring will grow in 30-40 days.
Information. The common pelopei does not show aggression towards humans. The insect is useful by catching spiders and other pests.
Diet of burrowing wasps
Adult burrowing wasps feed on plant sap, nectar, and the sweet secretions of certain insects, such as aphids. Some burrowing wasps drink water. And certain species squeeze out the collected nectar from the crops of bees.
Burrowing bees consume nectar and plant sap.
Reproduction of burrowing wasps
All burrowing wasps show care towards their offspring. Adults build nests for the new generation, and prepare food for the larvae. The larvae feed on insects, such as caterpillars, spiders, butterflies, flies, and the like.
Each type of burrowing wasp selects certain insects as victims. They show amazing skill in hunting - they deliver fatal blows with precision. When the sting is pricked, the prey is paralyzed and does not deteriorate for a long time. Burrowing wasps paralyze their prey with their poisonous sting.
Burrowing wasps are solitary insects; they do not depend on other individuals, but take care of their offspring independently. When the female digs a hole and fills it with supplies, she lays an egg in it. She closes the hole with a plug made of substrate.
Some species exhibit even more complex behavior. Females check the nest daily and replenish it with fresh prey as the larvae consume the supplies. One female can monitor several nests at the same time.
There are quite a large number of species of burrowing wasps. Let's look at the most famous ones.
Features of character and lifestyle
The ownership of an animal greatly changes its lifestyle. Solitary wasps live a monotonous life, actively engaged in providing supplies for the larvae. Their nests have separate compartments for prey, where it is stored for feeding the offspring. Subsequently, the larvae develop independently.
Wasp nest
Social wasps lead more eventful lives. In the spring, the queen finds a place where she creates a house. She lays eggs in the nest, and then takes care of the emerging larvae. With the first brood, the queen gets rid of her worries. The nest is now tended by worker wasps. They build the nest further and get food. The queen, in turn, continues to leave offspring.
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OS work at night
Some people believe that wasps and bees sleep at night. However, in reality everything is completely different. Insects only need a few minutes a day to rest. They never sleep at night. The nests are constantly busy. The wasps gradually chew the bark, and in the morning they build new honeycombs with the resulting material.
Interesting fact : males do not live more than two weeks. Most often they die some time after mating with the queen.
Most representatives of wasps have a bad character. They will never attack first, but will sting at the slightest disturbance. The smell of wasp poison is sensed by relatives, so it is best for the victim to move away from the nest before an entire colony attacks it. The wasps unite and jointly confront their enemies.
Sandy ammophila
These wasps have slender black bodies with bright red bellies. These are quite large wasps - they can reach 4 centimeters in length.
Sandy ammophila is one of the largest representatives of the family.
Sandy ammophila feeds its larvae with cutworm caterpillars living in the ground. The wasp finds the victim, drives it to the surface of the earth, paralyzes it and drags it to its burrow, and the victim is several times heavier than the wasp. The female drags the moth caterpillar into the nest, lays an egg on it, and then closes the hole and masks the entrance to it.
Larra anathema wasp
These wasps are highly valued by gardeners, as they are assistants in the destruction of mole crickets. Larra anathema is a solitary wasp. It has a black color. When Larra Anathema finds a mole cricket, she drives it to the surface and paralyzes it there with three targeted sting strikes in certain places on the body. After this, the wasp lays an egg under the front leg of the victim.
Larra anathema wasp laying an egg as a victim.
After 5 minutes, the paralysis passes, and the mole cricket climbs underground, continuing to lead its usual lifestyle. The larva of a burrowing wasp emerges from the egg and develops in about 30 days, during which it molts 5 times. All this time, the larva lives as an external parasite on the body of the mole cricket. The mole cricket dies shortly before the larva pupates.
Philanthus - bee wolf
Philanthus is one of the types of burrowing wasps. It is a rather large and strong insect, measuring from 12 to 15 mm. Has a too large head compared to the body and strong jaws. The chest of the philanthus is black, the abdomen is bright yellow, and there are from one to three white stripes on the back. They called him the bee wolf because he attacks honey bees.
This happens as follows. The philanthus rushes at the bee when it, unsuspectingly, collects pollen from a flower. Having grabbed it with its paws, the bee wolf stings the victim in the neck and kills. Rhythmically moving his paws, he squeezes out the nectar collected by the bee from the bee's crop, which he licks with his tongue. Then the bee carries the completely empty bee back to her burrow to use it as food for her offspring.
Philanthus can cause serious harm to beekeepers if it settles next to the hives, since the bees stop flying out for honey and sit in the hives. The queen bee stops laying eggs and the colony gradually weakens. Paper wasps differ in the way they build their nests.
The road wasp lays larvae in the body of the spider. Read about the peculiarities of life and behavior of this wasp species here.
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Is it dangerous for humans?
Burrowing wasps are less poisonous and dangerous when compared to paper wasps. Ammophila bites people extremely rarely. This happens most often in cases of urgent need. Usually these insects prefer to hide unnoticed from human eyes. Ammophila does not transmit signs to other relatives, so there is no risk of an attack by a whole swarm.
She uses the sting for the purpose of self-defense when she is accidentally pressed on , stepped on or pressed against her. The ammophila will not be the first to attack or bite. The burrowing wasp does not form cocoon-shaped nests, so it has nothing to protect. And if a person accidentally steps on the place where the larva with the victim is hidden, then he will not be able to damage it, since it is located at a great depth.
After a bite, a standard allergic reaction develops.
It usually goes away on its own after first aid is provided to the victim.:
- Inspect the wound to identify the sting remaining in it. Usually it does not remain in the wound, because, unlike bees, it is firmly attached to the abdomen and there are no notches on it. It can remain on the victim only if the burrowing wasp was killed during the bite. If a sting is found, it is carefully removed.
- The wound is washed with any antiseptic (hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate solution, chlorhexidine solution). After treatment, apply an ice compress to the bitten area. This manipulation allows you to slow down the absorption of the toxic substance. Some try to squeeze out the poison, but this should absolutely not be done. Due to such actions, an infection can be introduced, which will provoke the development of an inflammatory reaction.
- If a person has been stung in nature and there are no disinfectants at hand, then you can use a plantain leaf. It is pre-washed with water, kneaded and applied to the wound. Dandelion leaf is also suitable for these purposes.
- The stung person is provided with complete peace of mind and is also given plenty of fluids to drink. Water or warm sweet tea will do.
- It is advisable to take antihistamines (Cetrin, Loratadine, Suprastin), which will prevent the development of an allergic reaction. You can also apply an ointment with antihistamine components locally.
The listed actions are appropriate if the bite is single. If the insects have made multiple bites, as well as if the neck, tongue or larynx are injured, then you should immediately call an ambulance. The same should be done if a wasp has bitten a baby. Children are at increased risk of developing a serious allergic reaction due to a weak immune system.
Most often, the burrowing wasp does not pose a danger to humans and is also useful for gardeners. This is a special species of Hymenoptera that occupies a special place in the ecosystem.
If a wasp bites
As statistics show, the peak of wasp stings occurs in the summer months of July and August, when there are many flowers everywhere, as well as a large number of ripe sweet fruits and berries.
