Sceliphron
Sceliphron curvatum the Lehmsammeln
Sceliphron is a genus of wasps grave ( Spheciformes ) from the family Sphecidae. In Europe, six species occur. The Oriental Wall wasp ( Sceliphron curvatum ) has been introduced from India and Nepal in Europe and first observed there in 1979 in Styria.
Features
The up to 20 mm long animals have large, black and yellow colored body. The abdomen is petiolate basally and back sharply demarcated ovoid.
Way of life
Unlike customary for representatives of Sphecidae the females do not build their nests in the ground, but finished out of moist soil or wet clay stable about fist-sized nests, which consist of several cells. The nests are attached to plants, walls, overhanging rocks and the like in a protected location, such as a niche. Often you can discover the nests on buildings. Not infrequently, the wasps are distributed on the basis of this Nistweise by the people with goods to other parts of the world. For example, the original American common Sceliphron could caementarium so in the Pacific and Atlantic area and also spread to the Mediterranean region.
The adults are pollinators and often fly in puddles to procure material for nesting. The brood is supplied with spiders. These are not specifically selected, so that per cell depending on the size of the prey sometimes up to 40 spiders may be present.
Species ( Europe)
- Sceliphron caementarium ( Drury, 1770)
- Called Oriental Wall wasp ( Sceliphron curvatum (F. Smith, 1870) ), also Oriental mortar wasp or Asian Lehmtopfwespe
- Sceliphron destillatorium ( Illiger, 1807)
- Sceliphron funestum ( Kohl, 1918)
- Sceliphron madraspatanum (Fabricius, 1781)
- Sceliphron spirifex (Linnaeus, 1758)