Passaloecus corniger♀︎

Buddleja davidii (Butterfly bush)

Last update: 26 June 2023


Uncommon

Location Krimpen aan den IJssel, garden
Observations
2023-VI-13


Last year I found a number of nesting digger wasp species on a dead branch of a Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), among others this Stigmus pendulus. This year there is again a lot of activity on the branch including this female Passalocus corniger [1] that builds her nest in an abandoned borehole.

Passaloecus corniger ♀︎, nest afsluitend met hars

The dead branch contains many boreholes with a diameter of about ±1 – 2mm diameter, possibly created by beetles from the genus Anobius as one specimen was present at the moment of observation of the wasp.

Anobium sp., imago on Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii)

The nest with a diameter of 1,5mm is located higher on the branch where the majority of the boreholes are.

Passaloecus corniger ♀︎, nest location on Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii)
Passaloecus corniger ♀︎, nest location on Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii)

At the moment of observation the nest had already been filled and the wasp started closing the entrance. She collects resin elsewhere that is transported to the nest between the mandibles. Using the jaws the resin is spread in layers across the entrance until it is closed..

Passaloecus corniger ♀︎, closing nest with resin
Passaloecus corniger ♀︎, closing nest with resin

Around the entrance a number of irregular blobs of contaminated resin and some very round balls of the material are collected that she does not use.

Passaloecus corniger ♀︎, resin ball near nest location on Butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii)
Passaloecus corniger ♀︎, resin nest plug

After the entrance is closed the wasp collects wood pulp from the direct vicinity and presses it into the soft resin.

Passaloecus corniger ♀︎, covering resin nest plug with wood pulp
Passaloecus corniger ♀︎, nest plug with wood pulp in resin (one day old)
Passaloecus corniger ♀︎, covering resin nest plug with wood parts

After closing the nest she kept returning to the branch and found an empty borehole to sleep in.


Literature

1 Nederlands Soortenregister

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