Earth wasp: where lives and what is characteristic

Wasps in many people cause fear, because there is always a chance to be bitten.

But not everyone knows that in the world there are a huge number of species of these insects, many of which differ significantly from the species we are familiar with. For example, the ground wasp: what is this insect and why is it so called?

These insects belong to a huge group, which includes at least ten thousand species. Their representatives can be found all over the world, except for the Antarctic and the Arctic. In addition, the ground wasp does not occur in high mountain conditions.

There are small species of these insects, whose body length does not exceed two millimeters, but it is often possible to see such wasps that are longer than five centimeters. This distinguishes them from other types of wasps, as well as a kind of "collar" formed by the posterior margin of the pronotum. From its sides, the humeral knolls are prominent, which, as a rule, do not reach the base of the wings.

From the name it can be understood that the earth wasp belongs to digging species, but there are also such species that live in the wood of old trees. If you look at their front legs, it is easy to see a special comb, formed by a dense set of bristles. It is used by insects as a shovel.

Almost all wasps care about the offspring (with the exception of Vespula and Dolichovespula), but these species stand out even against their background.

They achieved a high level of skill in building complex nests. In them, wasps are laid paralyzed by spider bites, directly on the body of which eggs are deposited. The larvae emerging from them are always provided with fresh and highly nutritious food.

It should be noted that each "cell" with future wasps is neatly closed with a special stopper, which is often made of the same materials from which the nest was built. However, some species use resin of special types of trees.

Most often, the ground wasp hunts large spiders, caterpillars, flies and beetles, which are eaten in huge quantities. Small species often exterminate aphids and lepidopterans. These varieties of wasps are characterized by the fact that often only certain species are selected as a prey.

Some genera of these wasps demonstrate already very complex behavior, which in some ways already can compete with bees. This is a "progressive" type of larval feeding. Some representatives of amphophil (Ammophila) and the genus Bembix differ in this.

Nest earthen os of this genus strongly resembles a full-fledged hive. Larvae are fed gradually, as they consume the prey, cleaning the decaying remnants of previous victims. This is done by several females, who simultaneously care for several nests.

Adult individuals often eat nectar flowers, secretions of aphids and plant juices. In a hot time they gather for a watering place near water sources, and some species are accustomed to "rob" bees, forcing them to throw off the stock of nectar they collected from the crab.

Almost all of them belong to single species, which are collected in the group only at the time of the offspring. But some earthen wasps (photos of which are in the article) constantly live in colonies, jointly extracting food and caring for the offspring.