Sphecid wasp larvae feeding on large-sized cockroaches in a dead wood cavity

By

Ito, Masato
Oshio, Takumi
Handa, Hironobu
Watanabe, Kyohei

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2015

Original Publication

Journal of Hymenoptera research

Volume

46

Pages

173-177

Subjects

cockroach prey , Iriomote Island , Isodontia auripygata , Rhabdoblatta formosana , Sphecidae

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Washington, D.C International Society of Hymenopterists

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/JHR.46.5393

 

Abstract

We investigated the nest site and prey items of Isodontia auripygata (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) in a subtropical forest on Iriomote Island, ca. 200 km east of Taiwan. I. auripygata used the cavity of a dead branch as their nest site, and the nest was composed of two cells that were divided by wood offcuts. Inside the branch, we found large-sized adult cockroaches, Rhabdoblatta formosana (Blattodea: Epilampridae), R. formosana adults were fed to an I. auripygata larva in each cell. To our knowledge, this is the third record of species of the genus Isodontia that prey on cockroaches.