The mammoth wasp (''Megascolia maculata'') is a very large

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. Th ...

(the largest in Europe), with the female reaching up to , whereas the male is smaller. The species can be seen in warm weather, from May to September.

Description

The mammoth wasp resembles a very large, elongated bumble bee. The female is larger than the male and has a yellow head, the male has a black head. Its body is covered in downy hair and is glossy black in colour with two yellow bands across its abdomen which are sometimes divided to form four yellow spots. Females have shorter antennae than males. The female also has large mandibles which are used to manipulate the prey.

Distribution

The mammoth wasp occurs in southern Europe as far north as the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

, where it was first recorded in 2013, into

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, North Africa and the near east. It has been recorded in southern Great Britain but as its prey does not occur in Britain it will be unable to establish there.

Habitat

The mammoth wasp is found in Mediterranean type habitats such as oak forests,

maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

and

garrigue Garrigue or garigue ( ), also known as phrygana ( el, φρύγανα , n. pl.), is a type of low scrubland ecoregion and plant community in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. It is found on limestone soils in southern Fran ...

. It can only occur where its prey, the

European rhinoceros beetle The European rhinoceros beetle (''Oryctes nasicornis'') is a large flying beetle belonging to the subfamily Dynastinae. Subspecies * ''Oryctes nasicornis afghanistanicus'' Endrödi, 1938 * ''Oryctes nasicornis chersonensis'' Minck, 1915 * ''O ...

''Oryctes nasicornis'', is found too and in Russia it has been noted that it is commonest around human habitation where manure piles, sawmills and compost heaps provide habitat for its prey.

Biology

The adult mammoth wasps feed on nectar from flowers. In Malta they have been associated with wild artichoke and ''

Carpobrotus edulis ''Carpobrotus edulis'' is a ground-creeping plant with succulent leaves in the genus '' Carpobrotus'', native to South Africa. Its common names include hottentot-fig, sour fig, ice plant or highway ice plant. Description ''Carpobrotus edulis ...

''. The female hunts in dead wood for the grubs of the

which it paralyses by stinging it and then lays a single egg on the larva. The larval wasp consumes the beetle larva apart from its skin. Once the beetle larva had been consumed the wasp larva builds a cocoon and pupates, emerging from the cocoon as an adult in the following spring. Larva Megascolia maculata and larva Oryctes nasicornis

Larva Megascolia maculata and larva Oryctes nasicornis

In culture

It is suggested as the insect model used for the gold "

Malia Pendant The Malia Pendant is a gold pendant found in a tomb in 1930 at Chryssolakkos, Chrysolakkos, Malia, Crete, Malia, Crete. It dates to the Minoan civilization, 1800-1650 BC. The pendant was excavated by the French and first described by Pierre Demargn ...

", a jewel of high quality gold-smithery of the

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450BC ...

times.

Gallery

File:Mammoth Wasp 2.jpg, Mammoth wasp, Italy File:Mammothwasp13.jpg, Warning spots File:Mammothwasp3.jpg, From above File:Megascolia maculata ssp. flavifrons.jpg, Mammoth wasp

References

External links

''Megascolia maculata flavifrons''
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q148638 Scoliidae Hymenoptera of Europe Insects described in 1773