Spider-hunting Wasp Grubs: What so we know?..

What is it about?

Mud-daubing spider-hunting wasps are fairly common around the New World and Asia. Many nonspecialists don't know, but these are harmless & beneficial insects that help sustain the local environment. They build earthen nests on walls at the outer facade of houses and trees that often resemble a pan-flute. Don't kill them! This paper presents microscopy images in high magnification and resolution of several developmental phases of a common species of mud-daubing wasp from Brazil. The larvae are mainly focused, followed by pupa and cocoon structure, eggs. A list of spiders -- used as prey, provisioned paralysed as larval food -- recovered from the inspected nests is also given. All captured spiders were common orb-weavers from the region. The wasp larvae were long yellowish grubs devoid of body hairs, and presenting strong & denticulate mouthparts. The cocoon is shaped roughly like a nail, and the pupa resembles adults but with a different surface texture on the pupal skin. New traits are proposed for species diagnosis, pending further analysis of related groups.

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Photo by Duncan Sanchez on Unsplash

Photo by Duncan Sanchez on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Increasing knowledge about the development of insects is fundamental to understanding their biology. Surprisingly, there is very little information published for almost any species. This study is part of a join effort of a number of researchers trying to remedy this flaw in the body of knowledge concerning wasp larvae.

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