Xorides wasps are parasitoids of wood-boring beetles. I saw the first one in the yard on May 1, 2018. It was on an old spruce stump, which we left when we had to remove a tree that was in danger of falling about five years before.
The female has a long ovipositor, which is about as long as her body. She searches for beetle larvae by flicking her antennae using echolocation. When she finds a host, she inserts her ovipositor through the hard wood and deposits an egg. The process takes about a half hour or so.
Xorides wasps have continued to visit and oviposit on the stump each spring since then. But they are much less frequent now. I suspect that the stump has aged enough to no longer be a good habitat for their beetle larva hosts.
But they have provided lots of entertainment since then. I have 29 iNaturalist observations from the stump - which is makes LQA the leader for Xorides worldwide.
Xorides sp.
Body length ~ 25 mm
Xorides sp.
Large body and long ovipositor, each about 4 cm.
Xorides sp.
Male hanging out near ovipositing female
Xorides sp.
Female ovipositing in a spruce stump. The whole process took about 90 minutes.
Xorides sp.
male (right) and female (left) -- the same ones as in the previous two observations
Xorides sp.
This is the larger of the two female species (?) that were on the spruce stump today. This one has a black abdomen and black legs; the other two individuals were smaller with mostly red abdomens and hind legs.
Xorides sp.
Spruce stump, 7 deg C\r\nbody length 25 mm
Xorides sp.
On spruce stump. 25 mm. 11 deg C.
Xorides californicus
Ovipositing in a spruce stump
Xorides sp.
Ovipositing on spruce stump
Xorides californicus
Male Xorides with a box elder bug in the background.
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Xorides wasps are parasitoids of wood-boring beetles. I saw the first one in the yard on May 1, 2018. It was on an old spruce stump, which we left when we had to remove a tree that was in danger of falling about five years before.
The female has a long ovipositor, which is about as long as her body. She searches for beetle larvae by flicking her antennae using echolocation. When she finds a host, she inserts her ovipositor through the hard wood and deposits an egg. The process takes about a half hour or so.
Xorides wasps have continued to visit and oviposit on the stump each spring since then. But they are much less frequent now. I suspect that the stump has aged enough to no longer be a good habitat for their beetle larva hosts.
But they have provided lots of entertainment since then. I have 29 iNaturalist observations from the stump - which is makes LQA the leader for Xorides worldwide.
)
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[supf_id] => 3
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[t_id] => 0
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[g_id] => 41
[sg_id] => 0
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[cat_id] => 58
[o_image] =>
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[inat_url] => https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/13205968
[inat_image_url] => https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/19308710/medium.jpeg
[o_short_desc] =>
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[llid] => 1
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[admin_notes] => Updated from iNat
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Xorides californicus
Taxonomy
Subclass:
Pterygota (Winged and Once-winged Insects)
Suborder:
Apocrita (Narrow-waisted Wasps, Ants, and Bees)
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