''Parancistrocerus'' is a rather large genus of

potter wasp Potter wasps (or mason wasps), the Eumeninae, are a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan wasp group currently considered a subfamily of Vespidae, but sometimes recognized in the past as a separate family, Eumenidae. Mud dauber wasps, which al ...

s whose distribution spans the

Nearctic The Nearctic realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting the Earth's land surface. The Nearctic realm covers most of North America, including Greenland, Central Florida, and the highlands of Mexico. The parts of North America ...

, eastern

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

and

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In biogeogra ...

regions. A pair of medial pits on the anterior face of the pronotum and the expansion of the tegulae put this genus close to the genus ''

Stenodynerus ''Stenodynerus'' is a rather large genus of potter wasps whose distribution spans the Nearctic, Palearctic, Oriental and Neotropical regions. Most of its species lack a transverse carina on the first metasomal tergum. A pair of medial pits on ...

'' and many species of both genera are somewhat difficult to assignate to their respective genus. Their species are notable for having a smooth depression acting as an

acarinarium An acarinarium is a specialized anatomical structure which is evolved to facilitate the retention of mites on the body of an organism, typically a bee or a wasp. The term was introduced by Walter Karl Johann Roepke. Evolution The acarinarium has ...

at the base of the second metasomal tergum and hidden under the first metasomal tergum. This acarinarium serves as shelter for

symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...

deutonymphs of mites in the family

Winterschmidtiidae Winterschmidtiidae is a family of mites in the order Astigmata. Ecology The four subfamilies of Winterschmidtiidae have different habits: Ensliniellinae are associated with Hymenoptera; Winterschmidtiinae with wood-boring insects; Saproglyph ...

. Most of the species bear a transverse carina on the first metasomal tergum and the whole body of many neotropical species have a faint submetallic luster. Parancistrocerus perennis mating

References

Bugguide.net. Genus ''Parancistrocerus''
Biological pest control wasps Potter wasps Hymenoptera genera {{potter-wasp-stub

See also

References