''Tachytes etruscus'' is a predatory, solitary

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

belonging to the family

Crabronidae The Crabronidae are a large paraphyletic group (nominally a family) of wasps, including nearly all of the species formerly comprising the now-defunct superfamily Sphecoidea. It collectively includes well over 200 genera, containing well over 9 ...

. The species was first described by Pietro Rossi in 1790.

Distribution

This species is present in Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia and Spain.

Description

''Tachytes etruscus'' can reach a length of in the female, and of in males. Its body is largely black, with silver stripes on the abdomen and brown to ferruginous wings, legs, mandibles and palpi.

Biology

Females of this species usually predate on grasshoppers. The females dig holes in the ground in which they build some cells. Then they capture a prey grasshopper, paralyze it with a sting, carry it inside the underground nest and seal it in the burrow along with an egg. The larva consumes the prey during development. Males apparently guard the entrance of the burrows with developing females, waiting for them to emerge. These wasps have a preference for flowers of ''

Solidago virgaurea ''Solidago virgaurea'', the European goldenrod or woundwort, is an herbaceous perennial plant of the family Asteraceae. It is widespread across most of Europe as well as North Africa and northern, central, and southwestern Asia (China, Russia, ...

'' and '' Echinophora spinosa''.''Natura Mediterraneo''
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References

Crabronidae Hymenoptera of Europe Insects described in 1790 Taxa named by Pietro Rossi {{Apoidea-stub