Austroscolia soror
| Austroscolia soror | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A. soror female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Scoliidae |
| Genus: | Austroscolia |
| Species: | A. soror |
| Binomial name | |
| Austroscolia soror (Smith, 1855) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Austroscolia soror is a species of scoliid wasp and a common insect found in eastern Australia.[1] This is one of several Australian species collectively referred to as a blue flower wasp, black flower wasp, or blue hairy flower wasp.
Distribution
A. soror occurs in coastal areas from Queensland south to Victoria.[1]
Description and identification
A. soror is a very large scoliid wasp reaching up to 3 cm long. The body is black, and the wings are smoky with a blue iridescence.[2] This colour scheme is shared by several other Australian scoliids. The setae of A. soror are entirely black, and the second sternite is non-tuberculate.[3] As the punctation on the pronotum, mesothorax, and gaster is sparse, these parts appear shining rather than matte.[4][5] As a member of Austroscolia, the wings have a single recurrent vein and three submarginal cells.[6]
A. soror wing venation- Female A. soror specimen
Male A. soror in Victoria
Distinguishing this species requires close and thorough inspection of specimens. The allied and mostly sympatric A. nitida varifrons has denser punctures on the pronotum, mesothorax, and gaster and thus a more matte appearance.[4] Its wings often have greener reflections.[5] A. commixta of the Northern Territory, known only from the male, has a tuberculate second sternite and has shorter antennae. Its thorax is sparsely punctured and shining like A. soror while its abdomen is more densely punctured like A. nitida varifrons.[3] Another common species, Australelis anthracina, has two recurrent veins and white setae.[7] While most females and southwestern males of that species are entirely black, males in the east have a single pair of yellow to orange spots on the third segment of the gaster.[3]
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Female of the similar Austroscolia nitida varifrons photographed in New South Wales, Australia.
Female of the similar Australelis anthracina in Western Australia
Biology
Adults feed on nectar. The female lays her eggs on beetle larvae.
References
- 1 2 3 Elliott, Michael G.; Stringer, Danielle; Jennings, John; Austin, Andrew D. (2012). "Checklist of Australian scoliid wasps". Australian Biological Resources Study. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ↑ Child, John (1976). Australian Insects. Sydney: Periwinkle Books. p. 79. ISBN 0701806311.
- 1 2 3 Turner, Rowland E. (1909). "Revision of the Australian Species of the Genus Scolia". The Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 4 (21): 165–176. doi:10.1080/00222930908692655.
- 1 2 Cameron, Peter (1906). "On the Malay fossorial Hymenoptera and Vespidae of the Museum of the R. Zool. Soc. Natura artis magistra at Amsterdam". Tijdschrift voor Entomologie. 48: 54–55. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- 1 2 Bradley, James Chester; Betrem, Johan George (1967). "The types of Scoliidae described by Frederick Smith (Hymenoptera)". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology. 20 (7): 321–322.
- ↑ Liu, Zhen; Van Achterberg, Cornelis; He, Jun-Hua; Chen, Xue-Xin; Chen, Hua-Yan (2021). "Illustrated keys to Scoliidae (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Scolioidea) from China". ZooKeys (1025): 139–175. Bibcode:2021ZooK.1025..139L. doi:10.3897/zookeys.1025.61385. PMC 8007554. PMID 33814948.
- ↑ Betrem, Johan George (1928). "Monographie der indo-australischen scoliiden mit zoogeographischen betrachtungen". Treubia. 9 Supplemental: 1-388. Retrieved 2024-02-19.