Philanthidae is one of the largest families of

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 ...

in the superfamily

Apoidea The superfamily Apoidea is a major group (of over 30 000 species) within the Hymenoptera, which includes two traditionally recognized lineages, the "sphecoid" wasps, and the bees. Molecular phylogeny demonstrates that the bees arose from ...

, 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 been accorded family status. Later interpretations include status as a subfamily of a broadly-defined Sphecidae or Crabronidae. Subsequent revision of the superfamily

has elevated the group back to family status.

Behavior

The family consists of solitary,

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

y wasps, each genus having its own distinct and consistent prey preferences. The adult females dig tunnels in the ground for nesting. As with all other apoid wasps, the larvae are carnivorous; females hunt for prey on which to lays their eggs,

mass provisioning Mass provisioning is a form of parental investment in which an adult insect, most commonly a hymenopteran such as a bee or wasp, stocks all the food for each of her offspring in a small chamber (a "cell") before she lays the egg. This behavior is ...

the nest cells with paralyzed, living prey that the larva feeds upon after it hatches from the egg, as seen in the species '' Philanthus gibbosus''.

References

External links

BWARS: Philanthinae
(photographs of each species) {{Taxonbar, from=Q2085852 Apoidea Apocrita families