''Odynerus spinipes'', the spiny mason wasp, is a species of

potter wasp Potter wasps (or mason wasps), the Eumeninae, are a cosmopolitan wasp group presently treated as a subfamily of Vespidae, but sometimes recognized in the past as a separate family, Eumenidae. Recognition Most eumenine species are black or brown, ...

from western Europe. It is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

of the genus '' Odynerus'', being first described by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''.

Distribution

''Odynerus spinipes'' is found in northwestern Europe and Scandinavia as far north as central Sweden and south to the Alps and southern France, there is also a record from

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

it is found as far north as southern

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

but there are very few records from Ireland. It is now thought to be

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

from in Scotland.

Habitat

''Odynerus spinipes'' prefers open habitats and scrub, in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

it has been mostly found in post industrial sites.

Biology

''Odynerus spinipes'' adults mate soon after emergence and mating is followed by a search for nest sites which are then prepared and the cells provisioned with prey by the females. The prey is

weevil Weevils are beetles belonging to the superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than in length, and herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They belong to several families, ...

larvae of the genus '' Hyperba'' (family Curculionidae). The nests are constructed where there are vertical banks of hard earth, usually of clay but sometimes sand is used. The location of the nest is first dampened with water before a group of five to six cells is created immediately behind the vertical face of the bank. A "chimney" up to 30 mm long which curves over and downwards is made from the spoil created by the excavation. It is not known what the function of the chimney is but one theory is that it may shelter the burrow from rain in the exposed situations the wasp chooses for nesting or the chimney may deter potential kleptoparasites and parasitoids. As suitable nesting sites are scarce several females may be found nesting close together in small aggregations. The female wasp hunts for weevil larvae which are immobilised by stinging and by chewing. The immobilised prey is transported in the mandibles held against the underside of the body with the forelimbs. As many as 30 beetle larvae have been recorded in a single cell. The egg is laid before the prey is collected and is suspended from the side of the cell by a fine filament. The egg hatches a few days after it is laid. The collected beetle larvae are consumed by the wasp's larva in a matter of weeks; the wasp then probably overwinters as a prepupa. The adults' flight period in Great Britain is between May and August but they are most common in June, the adults nectar at flowers with short coronas and accessible nectaries and they will also feed on the honeydew secretions of aphids and from extra floral nectaries.

Parasites

''O. spinipes'' is used by the

cuckoo wasp Commonly known as cuckoo wasps or emerald wasps, the hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species) of parasitoid or kleptoparasitic wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliant metallic colors ...

'' Chrysis viridula'' which lays its egg in a cell while the ''O. spinipes'' larva is spinning its cocoon or it bites into the newly completed cocoon, sometimes breaking into the cell through its wall. When the egg hatches the larval cuckoo wasp destroys its host's eggs and then consumes the cached prey. Other species of cuckoo wasps from the genus '' Chrysis'' as well as '' Pseudospinolia neglecta'' and '' Pseudomalus auratus'' have been recorded in the nests of ''O. spinipes''. ''O. spinipes'' expresses two very different hydrocarbon compositions in its cuticle, known as cuticular hydrocarbons, each of these patterns is apparently mimicked by one of the kleptoparasitic cuckoo wasps, '' Chrysis mediata'' and ''Pseudospinolia neglecta''. The cuticular hydrocarbon profile of ''Chrysis viridula'' does not show mimicry of its host due to its particular strategy for oviposition.

References

{{Taxonbar , from=Q1500681 Hymenoptera of Europe Potter wasps Wasps described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus