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Nesting Behavior of Larropsis Chilopsidis and L. Vegeta (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Larrinae)

1975; Cambridge Entomological Club; Volume: 82; Issue: 3-4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1155/1975/32183

1687-7438

Darryl Gwynne, Howard E. Evans,

Orthoptera Research and Taxonomy

In their revision of the genus Larropsis , Bohart and Bohart (1966) reported prey records for only two of the 25 described species.L. divisa (Patton) had been observed preying on immature camel crickets, Ceuthophilus sp., by Williams (1913), who also presented notes on nesting behavior; and R. M. Bohart himself had taken L. filicornis Rohwer with an adult camel cricket of the genus Ammobaenetes.A detailed study of the nesting behavior of Ancistromma distincta (Smith), a member of a closely related genus (often ranked as a subgenus of Larropsis) , was published by Evans (1958a).The present paper adds to the limited knowledge of Larropsis biology by reporting observations on the nesting behavior of L. chilopsidis (Cockerell and Fox) and L. vegeta (Fox).These two species are very similar structurally, live in sand dune habitats,, and exhibit virtually identical nesting behavior. METHODSBehavioral data were collected by following individual females as; they walked over the sand surface searching for burrows of their camel cricket prey.Observations were read into a Sony cassette tape recorder and were later copied into a field notebook.Burrows were excavated to determine nest dimensions and to locate cells and prey.Cell contents were kept in rearing tins with moist sand.Voucher specimens of both species of Larropsis and their prey and parasites have been placed in the collection of Colorado State University.