''Isodontia mexicana'', the Mexican grass-carrying wasp, is a species of insect belonging to the family

Sphecidae The Sphecidae are a cosmopolitan family of wasps of the suborder Apocrita that includes sand wasps, mud daubers, and other thread-waisted wasps. The name Sphecidae was formerly given to a much larger grouping of wasps. This was found to be p ...

. It is mainly found throughout

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, but has become established in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, primarily

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Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

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Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The adults grow up to long, the body is completely black, the thorax is quite hairy and the wings have a smoky-brown color. They can be encountered from early Summer through September. Females are larger and emerge as adults later in the season than males. ''Isodontia mexicana'' is a typical case of a species arrived accidentally from

and slowly encroaching on the European continent, probably for the lack of predators or

parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...

s. These wasps build their

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materia ...

s in hollowed branches or in other natural cavities, often reusing the nests of other species. Then they line the inside with grass fragments or other plant fibers (hence the name of 'Grass-carrying wasps'). ''I. mexicana'' mainly preys on grasshoppers (usually

katydids Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, t ...

Tettigoniidae Insects in the family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America), or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the suborder Ensifera, t ...

species) or

Tree cricket Tree crickets are insects of the Order (biology), order Orthoptera. These cricket (insect), crickets are in the subfamily Oecanthinae of the Family (biology), family Gryllidae. Description Tree crickets as well as most other crickets have tw ...

s (

Gryllidae The family ''Gryllidae'' contains the subfamilies and genera which entomologists now term true crickets. Having long, whip-like antennae, they belong to the Orthopteran suborder Ensifera, which has been greatly reduced in the last 100 years (''e ...

species), choosing the small ones and carrying them to its nest to feed the emerging larvae with the living, but paralyzed

Orthoptera Orthoptera () is an order of insects that comprises the grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets, including closely related insects, such as the bush crickets or katydids and wētā. The order is subdivided into two suborders: Caelifera – grassho ...

. File:Sphecidae - Isodontia mexicana.JPG, Lateral view File:Isodontia mexicana-pjt7.jpg, Prey File:Isodontia mexicana-pjt8.jpg, In flight carrying nesting material File:Isodontia mexicana-pjt6.jpg, Nest closure

References

* Kevin M. O'Neill and Ruth P. O'Neill - Sex Allocation, Nests, and Prey in the Grass-Carrying Wasp ''Isodontia mexicana'' (Saussure) (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) - Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society - Vol. 76, No. 3 (Jul., 2003), pp. 447–454. * Kevin M. O'Neill, James F. O'Neill, Ruth P. O'Neill - - Sublethal effect of brood parasitism on the grass-carrying wasp ''Isodontia mexicana'' - Ecological Entomology - Volume 32, Issue 1, pages 123–127, February 2007 * Scaramozzino, P.L., Currado I., Vergano G., Tromellini C., 1991. Nesting behaviour of adventive ''Isodontia mexicana'' (Saussure) in Piedmont (Italy North-West) (Hymenoptera Sphecidae). Ethology Ecology & Evolution, Special Issue 1: 39-42.

External links

Biolib

Fauna Europaea

Ento.psu.edu
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3014022 Sphecidae Insects described in 1867 Hymenoptera of Europe