Cicada Killer Sphecius speciosus; Family Nyssonidae
The cicada killer ranks most formidable in appearance of any wasp in the state.
It is an exceptionally large species, often exceeding 1 1/2 inches in length.
Nests are dug in open area such as lawns and pastures, usually in aggregations.
Males often defend territories around the nests of one of more females. Female
cicada killers prey on "dog day" cicadas of the genus Tibicen,
stocking nests with one or two cicadas per cell. As in all ground-nesting wasps
and bees, each active nest can usually be recognized by a mound of earth excavated
by the female with its mandibles and legs. Female cicada killers may live a
month and produce tunnels four or more feet long in a single nest. Although
nests are not particularly deep, nine or ten cells per nest is not unusual.
A cicada killer dragging a large immobilized cicada over the ground to its nest
is an impressive natural event.
Sand Wasps Family Nyssonidae
Many species and genera of sand wasps occur in Missouri. They nest in the ground
during summer. They are found in many habitats but most often in open, sandy
areas along rivers. Nests are often aggregated. Bembix americana spinolas
is one of the largest and most conspicuous sand wasps. Females provision their
nests with various kinds of flies, including house flies and deer flies--a very
beneficial habit! A single developing young may eat two dozen flies. Adults
often catch flies on the wing and are remarkably fast and agile. Their habit
of hovering uncomfortably close to a person for the purpose of catching flies
attracted to that individual is often mistaken for aggression. But they are
even-tempered wasps, and it is possible to feed them out of your hand by presenting
them with a living fly not quite capable of flight. Sand wasps are occasionally
mistaken for hornets or yellowjackets because of their banded color pattern.
Great Golden Digger Sphex ichneumoneus; Family Sphecidae
This rather large solitary wasp is found statewide in Missouri. Nesting aggregations
of from a few to (rarely) hundreds of females can be found in open sunny sites.
Nests are excavated in the ground; a nest entrance can be seen in the accompanying
photo. Nest cells are situated on short side tunnels off a long main tunnel.
Typical nests have two or three cells, and a typical female will construct five
or six nests in her one to two months of summer activity. Occasionally two females
will jointly provision a single nest. Paralyzed katydids are placed into nest
cells as food for their young, which pass the winter in the nests before emerging
the following year. Like all solitary wasps, they are not aggressive.
Mud Daubers Sceliphron, Trypargilum and Chalybion; Family Sphecidae
(left) Sceliphron Caementarium gathering mud. (right) Chalybion californicum drinking from a puddle.
Mud daubers are among the most familiar solitary wasps. Their nests are commonly found in barns and garages throughout Missouri and are occasionally considered unsightly nuisances. The black and yellow dauber. Sceliphron caementarium, constructs nest cells side by side or on top of one another; the organ pipe mud dauber, Trypargilum politum, makes vertical, parallel row of cells. A female carries mud balls from a puddle to the nest site; a cell takes about an hour to construct. The blue mud dauber, Chalybion californicum, does not construct nests but instead reuses those of one of the other species. Blue mud daubers carry water instead of mud and make new mud of the dried nests. All species place paralyzed spiders in the nest cells as provisions for the young. Blue mud daubers use large numbers of black widow spiders. All Missouri mud daubers pass the winter as immatures in the nests; the black and yellow mud dauber has two generations each summer. Male organ pipe mud daubers are among the few male. Hymenoptera to stay at the nest. A male "stands guard" while a female is away collecting spiders, and mating occurs frequently on her visits to the nest. Mud daubers are among the easiest wasps to observe. "Singing" while applying mud to a nest is one of their many interesting habits and behaviors.
Velvet Ants; Family Mutillidae
Velvet ants are not true ants. True ants are social, while velvet ants are solitary wasps. The female velvet ant is wingless throughout her life; males are winged. Young develop as parasites of other immature insects. Those species of velvet ants that attack bees and wasps place their eggs in the cells of the host; nests are often entered forcibly and the velvet ant may remain in the nest for several days. The velvet ant young feed on the immature bee or wasp in its cell or cocoon, eventually destroying it. There are many species and several genera of velvet ants in Missouri. Females of several species can produce chirping or squeaking sounds by scraping one abdominal segment against another. Dasymutilla occidentalis, the largest and most brightly colored species in the state, parasitizes bumblebee nests. The stinger is extraordinarily long, and the sting is said to be painful, hence the popular name "cow killer."
Sweat Bees Family Halictidae; Subfamily Halictinae
There are many species of sweat bees in several genera in Missouri. Some are solitary, but a number show different levels of social behavior. All are small; none are aggressive. Nearly all nest in the ground; a few nest in rotten wood. The bright green augochlorella species are the smallest and most abundant and are among those to have developed social behavior. Their soil nests rarely have more than a few occupants. Sweat bees who begin a nest in April are frequently joined by other overwintered females that have not started nests. In these joint nests some individuals may function as workers and not lay eggs. By summer only one egg-laying bee remains. Some of her female offspring are workers, while others mate and survive the winter to start nests the following spring.
Leafcutter Bees Megachile: Family Megachilidae
Leafcutter bees are common throughout Missouri from late spring into early autumn. All are solitary. Sizes range from five millimeters to on inch. They are dark in color with several whitish hair bands across the abdomen. Pollen is carried exclusively on the underside of the abdomen, never on the hind legs. Nests are in hollow twigs, stalks, holes in logs, in dried rolled-up leaves, or in the ground. Megachile species cut leaf and flower pieces from preferred plants and use them to build capsulelike cells. All of at least a dozen species of Megachile in Missouri overwinter as resting-stage young; some have two or more generations per year. Several species are important pollinators of sunflowers. The alfalfa leafcutter bee, the smallest, was introduced from Europe and is often propagated for alfalfa pollination.
Large Carpenter Bees Xylocopa virginica; Family Anthophoridae
Large carpenter bees resemble bumblebees in size and color but are solitary and excavate their nests in wood. The single Missouri species prefers coniferous wood and often reuses old nests, cleaning them of debris and enlarging them. Structural damage to timber can result from many nests. Nest plugs and cell partitions are made of wood chips; cell walls are unlined. Carpenter bee nests are provisioned in the spring and summer. After emerging, the young adults fly and feed briefly before overwintering in the tunnels. Mating occurs the following spring. The white-faced males are often seen at this time hovering in a pendulous, bobbing dance near nests, waiting for females. These males rush to investigate any airborne object--a thrown pebble for example--that come near them.
Paper Wasps Polistes; Family Vespidae
(top left) Polistes metricus (top right) Polistes fuscatus (bottom center) Polistes perplexus
Paper wasps are the most familiar of Missouri's social wasps. A late summer nest bristling with dozens of wasps can be a menacing sight. The nests are made of paper that consists of wood fibers scraped from weathered boards or branches and mixed with saliva of the adult females. Nests are begun from scratch each spring;they are very rarely reused. The nests are a single layer of open cells that face downward and are often placed under eaves, in open buildings, or in other sheltered sites. Each colony is started by one or a few overwintered females, usually in April. Only one egg-laying queen is typically present. The first offspring are usually worker females; males and new queens are produced in mid-to late-summer. Fertilized new queens pass the winter in groups in protected sites such as under tree bark or inside building walls. Nests are defended by workers, which makes these wasps potential stinging threats. Wasps that are foraging away from the nest are usually not aggressive. Paper wasps specialize in feeding caterpillars to their young and so are among the most beneficial insects. They should not be killed indiscriminately. At least eight species occur in Missouri.
Yellowjackets Vespula and Paravespula; Family Vespidae
Yellowjackets are the bee-sized black and yellow social wasps that are widely, and incorrectly, called "sweat bees" in Missouri. Two native species occur statewide; the introduced german yellowjacket is expanding its range and will eventually occur statewide, especially in urban areas. The native species often nest underground, having started the nest in a cavity such as a rodent burrow. They will also nest above ground in buildings, which is the preferred nest site of the German yellowjacket. Each nest is begun by a single queen, which has overwintered alone in a protected site such as under bark or in wood piles. Yellowjacket nests are made of paper like that of paper wasps but have multiple parallel layers of comb with downward facing cells. Yellowjacket nests are always enclosed in a wood pulp paper envelope built by the wasps. A successful nest in September may contain 5,000 workers. These wasps aggressively defend the nest site and are a significant stinging threat. All three species beneficially feed on a large variety of insects, but they also like sweets, food scraps and garbage. Foraging workers therefore also pose potential stinging hazards. Though these wasps have beneficial habits, their undesirable habits are often more prevalent and make them the major pests among all of Missouri's stinging insects.
Bald Faced Hornet Dolichovespula maculata: Family Vespidae
Large gray nests of the bald faced hornet are familiar from their frequent use in natural history displays. Placed in trees and shrubs, each was begun in spring by a single overwintered queen. The nests are made of wood pulp paper and have several layers of horizontal comb enclosed by an outer envelope, just as yellowjacket nests do. The bald faced hornet is in fact technically also a yellowjacket, with an identical life history. The larger size and black and ivory coloration cause it to be popularly considered a distinct type of social wasp. Late summer nests may contain several hundred workers, as well as males and new queens. Aggressive nest defense makes these wasps a stinging threat, but their foragers do not collect sweets or food scraps and are not aggressive away from the nest. Like all wasps, the bald faced hornets are beneficial and should not be destroyed indiscriminately.
The introduced European hornet, Vespa crabro, is expanding its range and may also become widespread in Missouri. A true hornet, it is colored yellow, black and burgundy. Nests of this largest U. S. Social wasps are typically placed in hollow trees.
Bumblebees Bombus; Family Apidae
Bumblebees usually nest in cavities below ground (frequently rodent burrows), but nests may be found on or above ground in brush piles, trash heaps, bird houses, etc. Nests are started in spring by single fertilized females. Each builds a large irregular cell of wax and pollen and stocks it with pollen and nectar. Several eggs are laid in the cell; the female then enlarges it and supplies the young with additional food. She speeds the development of her eggs and young by incubating them. They become workers when mature and take over the tasks of pollen and nectar collecting, feeding young, and other nest duties. Honey and pollen may be stored in vacated cells. Nests rarely have more than a hundred workers at a time. Only future queens survive the winter by hibernating in the ground. At least six species of bumblebees occur in Missouri. Bumblebees are important pollinators of many flowers.
Honeybee Apis mellifera; Family Apidae
European settlers introduced the honeybee
to North America hundreds of years ago. Wild populations occur throughout
Missouri. Nests are usually located in tree cavities, not in the ground. The
nest "comb" is suspended vertically and consists of parallel double-layered
sheets of hexagonal cells. These are made from wax secreted by worker bees.
A nest may be active for many years. The single queen's only function is to
lay eggs. She may live several years and produce many thousand of eggs. New
queens are produced annually in healthy colonies. At this time the old queen
leaves the nest with a swarm of workers to establish a new colony, while the
new queen stays in the old nest with the remaining workers. Worker bees produce
honey in their stomachs from flower nectar. The honey is thickened by regurgitating
it onto the mouthparts and exposing it to air. Honey and pollen stored in
nest cells nourish the adult bees in winter. The honeybee is the major pollinator
of many field crops and almost all tree fruits. It is the world's most beneficial
insect, and has become the state insect of Missouri.
