White-collared Flower Wasp

Description:

This spotting is of a winged male (8mm) and a slightly smaller wingless female wasp, mating. The male has a white ring on the pronotum. Its body is black and legs a dark brown. The female wasp is a dark brown. It has small eyes and the antennae are short and curled.

Habitat:

garden

Notes:

This is a flower wasp from the Family TIPHIIDAE and Subfamily Thynnine where females are wingless. The females burrow into the soil and lay eggs on beetle larvae. The female wasps feed on nectar but being wingless, they are carried by males and fed by them.