Author： PECKHAM DAVID J.
Publisher： Entomological Society of America
ISSN： 1938-2901
Source： Annals of the Entomological Society of America, Vol.84, Iss.2, 1991-03, pp. : 170-173
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Abstract
In a 5-yr study, females of the solitary sand wasp Oxybelus sparideus Cockerell included females of one or more sarcophagid flies as prey in 169 of 842 cells. In 17 cells, viviparous maggots emerged from the paralyzed female prey, destroyed the wasp's egg or larva and, in most instances, consumed the prey contents of the cell. Senotainia trilineata (Van der Wulp) adults were reared from maggots collected from two of the cells, Blaesoxipha impar (Aldrich) from one cell, B. kellyi (Aldrich) from one cell, and Helicobia rapax (Walker) from six cells. Two other cells contained maggots that consumed only the wasp's egg and failed to survive; one contained a female Ravinia derelicta (Walker) as part of the prey, the other contained single female R. derelicta and Oxysarcodexia conclausa (Walker). Maggots from the remaining five cells destroyed the prey in the cell but failed to mature. The inclusion of sarcophagid females as prey reduces the number of successful cells of O. sparideus. However, detrimental effects (i.e., the destruction of the contents of those cells by the viviparous maggots) may be offset by the beneficial effects achieved from the use of female sarcophagids because these are rarely used by other Oxybelus. In addition, the capture of females of those sarcophagid species that are cleptoparasitic should reduce the number of cells of O. sparideus and other sphecid wasps normally cleptoparasitized.
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