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 in the family
Philanthidae
Philanthidae is one of the largest families of wasp in the superfamily Apoidea, with 1167 species in 8 genera. Most of the species (more than 870) are in the genus '' Cerceris''.
Taxonomy and phylogeny
Historically, this group has frequently ...
. It is the largest genus in the family, with 876 described species and 169 subspecies. Cerceris Catalog The genus has a
cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a cosmopolitan distribution is the range of a taxon that extends across most or all of the surface of the Earth, in appropriate habitats; most cosmopolitan species are known to be highly adaptable to a range of climatic and en ...
paralyzed
Paralysis (: paralyses; also known as plegia) is a loss of motor function in one or more muscles. Paralysis can also be accompanied by a loss of feeling (sensory loss) in the affected area if there is sensory damage. In the United States, r ...
beetle
Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
s, and sometimes
bee
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...
s. Many ''Cerceris'' are solitary, but some species share nesting sites or nest communally.
The faces of the females are frequently modified with unusual projections on the clypeus and the clypeal margin which can take the shape of conical bulges to elongated curving "horns". Paralyzed prey are carried in the females'
mandible
In jawed vertebrates, the mandible (from the Latin ''mandibula'', 'for chewing'), lower jaw, or jawbone is a bone that makes up the lowerand typically more mobilecomponent of the mouth (the upper jaw being known as the maxilla).
The jawbone i ...
s, which are somewhat elongated and tend to have prominent teeth, often with species-specific shapes. The abdominal segments are also constricted very strongly at the junctures, giving the abdomen a somewhat corrugated,
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
-like appearance.
Gallery
File:Cerceris triangulata, male BIML USGS.jpg, ''
Cerceris triangulata
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''Cerceris'' is a genus of wasps in the family Philanthidae. It is the largest genus in the family, with 876 described species and 169 subspecies.Cerceris fumipennis''
File:Cerceris concinna.jpg, '' Cerceris concinna''
File:Cerceris P1110962a.jpg,
File:Cerceris P1310556a.jpg,
File:Cerceris intricata graphica P1490595a.jpg,
