Description and photos of black wasps

Black wasp is a representative of solitary, road or sand wasps. Belongs to the squad. It includes a family of pompilides, chines, cescolos, and Germans. In the world there are about 5 thousand species of road wasps. The color is mostly black with white, red, red spots, stripes. They are found everywhere, including in Russia.

Description of appearance

Medium or large black wasp - 15-50 mm. Dark head, chest, abdomen with stripes, spots of yellow, white, red, purple. The wings are dim, smoky, folded parallel to the body.

The legs are long, thin, on the front there are digging ridges. Hind tibia with spines, tubercles. On a small head, eyes, small antennae are clearly visible. The pompilids have a powerful sting, with which they calmly pierce the carapace of large insects of their larvae. A photo of a black wasp is presented below. Coloring varies by species.

Habitat

The black wasp in Russia is found in the forest, on fields, along roads, on personal plots, in gardens, in the garden. The main criterion for choosing habitats is the soil. It should be loose enough for digging, not loose, so that minks do not fall off. Most often it is a mixture of sand, clay, limestone.

On a note!

The black wasp often settles near the house of the person, however to notice an insect in a single copy is quite difficult. On the territory of the garden, the garden, the insect benefits, destroying spiders, flies, pollinating plants.

Lifestyle

Black wasp is a solitary representative. Uterus don't create large nestsas paper wasps do, they do not swarm, they do not transmit signals to other individuals. In the spring they lead a carefree lifestyle, flying around, collecting nectar. Spend the night on plants, in the grass, old hollow trees.

Closer to summer, female black wasps begin to take care of the extension of the genus. Minks are dug in the ground, with a depth of about 3 cm. At the end of the tunnel, a single cell is formed in which the larva will develop. It closes the entrance to the hole with a pebble or a breast of earth, goes hunting.

Often, spiders become a potential victim. The female paralyzes them with powerful poison, drags them into a prepared hole. Lays an egg in the body, closes the entrance. After a few hours, a larva appears that will eat the spider alive for 14 days. At the end of the development cycle, he forms a cocoon. A few days later, an imago crawls out of the ground. The larvae that develop in late summer remain wintering in a pupal state.

For each larva, a black wasp forms a separate mink. Sometimes it uses ready-made moves made by other insects, as well as old tree hollows.

On a note!

Single earthen wasps are called universal, strong predators. Often their victims are poisonous spiders, bedbugs.

Varieties of Pompilides

Road or earth wasps live all over the globe, differ in size, color, but lead an identical lifestyle.

• The dipogon is average. The Latin name is Dipogon hircanum. Completely black. Body size about 1 cm. Wings with small dark spots. They hunt for side-walker spiders. They live on trees, burrows are built inside branches, shoots, hollows. They are representatives of the fauna of Japan, Eurasia, Kamchatka.
• Wasp of the dagger. In Latin Batozonellus lacerticida. Large black wasp with yellow stripes on the belly, orange wings. The limbs are black and red.Body size up to 21 mm. The victims are spiders, crosses. Nests form in the soil. They live on the territory of Eurasia, Japan, North America.
• Red-bellied wasp (Anoplius viaticus). The insect reaches a size of 15 mm. The body is black, the abdomen is red. Hunts for a wolf spider. Builds nests in the ground. The species is common in Eurasia.
• Black and white wasp. In Latin it has the name Monobia quadridens. The body is black with white stripes, spots. The size of the females is about 18 mm. A white wasp builds nests in various cavities, abandoned beehives of wood bees. Butterfly larvae become victims.

Insects bring favor agriculture, destroying a huge number of pests. However, an accidental collision of a person with a predator may end bite.

Danger

The bite of a black wasp is compared with a red ant. Causes severe pain, redness, swelling, swelling. Vivid pain is present for 3 days. Poison may cause severe allergic reaction, up to anaphylactic shock. At risk Small children, pregnant, aged people.

The black road wasp eats nectar of flowers, plant juices, fruits, and extracts protein food for larvae. Often settles on the territory of a person, but does not approach the house. When confronted with people, it tries to fly away quickly or crawl away. Pompilides are less aggressive than paper wasps, social wasps, so they sting much less often. Floated the stingprotecting his own life, he will not bite without a threat.