ENY 3005 Family Identification

Hymenoptera: Scoliidae Pronunciation: sco-LIE-i-dee Common name: scoliid wasps

Campsomeris plumipes fossulana (Fabricius) male on left and Scolia dubia Say on right.

Identifying characteristics for the family Scoliidae include:

• Large, robust wasps with hairy bodies.
• Distal section of wings with numerous longitudinal wrinkles.
• The mesosternum and the metasternum are separated by a straight transverse suture.

• There are 8 species in 3 genera in Florida and about 20 species in 5 genera in North America.
• Scoliids are external parasites of Scarabaeid larvae. A female stings and paralyzes a grub, then constructs a cell and lays an egg.
• Wasps in the family Tiphiidae are distinguished from the Scoliidae by lacking the wrinkles in the wings and having an M- or W-shaped suture between the mesosternum and the metasternum.

Scolia dubia Say on Bidens sp., Bayou George, Florida, 29 Sep 2003. Image courtesy of May Lenzer.

References:

• Pages 343-344 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Page 380 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
• Page 735 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• Page 592 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.

Links to other web sites

• Scoliidae - Campsomeris pilipes in British Columbia