''Monobia quadridens'', also known as the four-toothed mason wasp, is a species of solitary potter wasp found in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It grows to a wingspan of , and feeds on small

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s and

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

. There are two generations per year, with one generation overwintering as pupae.

Description

The abdomen of ''M. quadridens'' is entirely black, except for a broad ivory-coloured band on the first tergite. The wingspan is typically for males, and for females. It closely resembles ''

Euodynerus bidens ''Euodynerus'' is a genus of potter wasps with a mainly Holarctic distribution, though a number of species extend through Indomalayan, Australasian, Afrotropical and northern Neotropical regions. Also, a single species is reported from Ha ...

'' in size and colouration.

Distribution

''Monobia quadridens'' has a wide distribution in eastern

. In Mexico, it is found in the states of Tamaulipas and

Nuevo León Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With a ...

, while in the United States, it is found from New Mexico, Kansas and Wisconsin east to the Eastern Seaboard. The occurrence of the species in Canada has not been explicitly recorded in print, but specimens identified as ''M. quadridens'' have been present in Canadian entomological collections for a long time.

Taxonomy

''Monobia quadridens'' was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1763 work ''

Centuria Insectorum The first page of ''Centuria Insectorum'', as included in ''Amoenitates Academicæ'' ' (Latin, "one hundred insects") is a 1763 taxonomic work by Carl Linnaeus, and defended as a thesis by Boas Johansson; which of the two men should for taxonomi ...

'', under the name ''Vespa quadridens''.

Life cycle and ecology

''Monobia quadridens'' is bivoltine, having two generations in a year. One emerges in summer, while the other overwinters as a pupa before emerging the following spring. Copulation lasts for 30 minutes in ''M. quadridens'', while in most wasp species, it only lasts a minute or two. It nests in a variety of cavities including tunnels abandoned by carpenter bees, old nests built by mud daubers, and hollow plant stems. The diet of ''M. quadridens'' is primarily composed of

s of microlepidoptera, including species from the families Pyralidae, Crambidae, Elachistidae,

Amphisbatidae __NOTOC__ The Amphisbatinae was a small subfamily of moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. Like their relatives therein, their exact relationships are not yet very well resolved. The present lineage is often included in the Depressariinae as a ...

, Gelechiidae and Tortricidae. The diet also includes a large proportion of

Sting

Like many wasps, ''Monobia quadridens'' is capable of delivering a

sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

. The pain caused by the sting of a female is similar to that caused by the

bald-faced hornet ''Dolichovespula maculata'' is a species of wasp in the genus ''Dolichovespula'' and a member of the Eusociality, eusocial, cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family Vespidae. It is known by many colloquial names, primarily bald-faced horn ...

or the ant ''

Myrmecia nigriceps ''Myrmecia nigriceps'', also known as the black-headed bull ant, is a species of ant endemic to Australia. A member of the genus ''Myrmecia'' in the subfamily Myrmeciinae, it was first described by Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr in 1862. The ...

''. Unlike most other wasps, however, the male is also capable of delivering a painful jab like a needle prick, although no venom is injected, so the pain is transient. The male has no stinger and uses the tip of its abdomen.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4044469 Potter wasps Hymenoptera of North America Insects described in 1763 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus