g coloration made of iridescent blue, green, purple which are true pigments (red, brown and white) and are very rare in insects. The typical brilliance is emphasized by the exoskeleton sculpture, which is carved by a complex punctuation and by projections, crests and holes. In addition there is a reduction of the number of the external abdominal segments, the presence of 11 antennal segments and for the wing veins with 5 closed cells. Some tropical species have apterous females and a body without metallic reflections.
Cuckoo Wasps. Images Courtsey of (left) Pollinator and (right) Alvesgaspar.
Currently about 3,000 species have been described worldwide. Chrysidids are parasitoids with some species being cleptoparasites meaning they lay their eggs on host that are already parasitized by other wasps. In addition it is not uncommon for the newly hatched cleptoparasitic larvae to attack and kill the other parasitic larvae thus leaving more food for themselves
Velvet Ants. Their common name velvet ants refers to their dense hair which may be red, black, white, silver, or gold. They are known for their extremely painful sting, facetiously said to be strong enough to kill a cow, hence the common name cow killer or cow ant.
They invade the nests of wasps and bees as their exoskeleton is very tough and roughly textured to protect against stings. Like related families in the Vespoidea, males have wings but females are wingless. They exhibit extreme sexual dimorphism; the males and females are so different that it is almost impossible to associate the two sexes of a species unless they are captured while mating. In a few species the male is so much larger than the female that he carries her aloft while mating, a characteristic that is also seen in the closely related family Tiphiidae. In all Hymenoptera only the females sting because the stinger is a modified ovipositor. Like all wasps they can sting multiple times. A structure called a stridulitrum on the metasoma is used to produce a squeaking, chirping, or humming warning sound when handled.
Female (left) and Winged Male Velvet Ants.
Mature velvet ants feed on nectar. Although most species are strictly nocturnal, females some species are sometimes active up to two hours before sunset. It is thought they may not avoid light but rather are active during temperatures which usually occur only after sunset but on cool overcast days could occur earlier.
The male locates a female on the wing and mates. The female then enters an insect nest, typically a ground-nesting bee or wasp nest, and deposits eggs near the larvae or pupae. Her young develops as an ectoparasitoid, eventually killing and eating its immobile host. A few European species have been known to invade and raid bee or wasp nests.
Velvet ants occur worldwide, with some 5000 species, mainly in the tropics. They are especially common in desert and sandy areas, with most of the over 400 North American species found in the Southwestern United States and adjacent parts of Mexico, with others found in generally sandy regions throughout the United States and Canada; the same habitat where their hosts are most diverse.
Spider Wasps. These are one of the better know groups of large Hymenoptera. Most of the Spider Warps are orange and black, black and grey/white markings or just black, i.e., the very strong warning colors. They usually have tinted wings, smooth and shiny body. Their hind-legs are long and always have two prominent spurs. They tend to coil their antennae. Spider wasps are best distinguished from other similar wasps in having (in most species) a transverse groove dividing the mesopleuron (the mesepisternal sclerite, a region on the side of middle segment of the thorax above the point where the legs join) into halves.
Spider Wasp with Coiled Antennae and Mesoplural Transverse Groove Dividing Segment above Attachment of Second Pair of Legs
In South America spider wasp species may be referred to colloquially as marabunta or marimbondo, though these names can be generally applied to any very large stinging wasps). The family