''Ampulex'' is a large cosmopolitan

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

s belonging to the family Ampulicidae. Most of the >130 species occur in the tropics, particularly in the

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

, and fewer than 15 are known from the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

; fewer than 5 species are native to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

or the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, though the Old World species '' Ampulex compressa'' has spread to virtually everywhere that its host roaches (esp. the genus ''

Periplaneta ''Periplaneta'' is a genus of cockroaches containing some of the well-known pest species with cosmopolitan distributions, such as: * ''Periplaneta americana'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – American cockroach * ''Periplaneta australasiae'' (Fabricius, 1775 ...

'') can be found. The few species whose biology is known are

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

s of

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...

es; they typically inject venom into the roach that subdues or immobilizes it, and then lay one to two eggs between the legs of the defenseless roach.

Selected species

*'' Ampulex canaliculata'' Say, 1823 *'' Ampulex compressa'' ( Fabricius, 1781) – jewel wasp or emerald cockroach wasp *'' Ampulex dementor'' Ohl, 2014 *'' Ampulex fasciata'' Jurine, 1807 *'' Ampulex ferruginea'' Bradley, 1934 *'' Ampulex ruficollis'' Cameron, 1888 For further species see ITIS.

References

Ampulicidae Biological pest control wasps Apoidea genera {{Apoidea-stub