Official name:
Synonyms:
Trypoxylon figulus [1]
see more on: www.gbif.org
CONTENTS
1. Distribution
2. Behaviour
3. Plant relations
4. Prey relations
5. Parasitic relations
6. Identification
1. DISTRIBUTION
Trypoxylon figulus is an uncommon wasp [2] that occurs throughout the Netherlands [3].
Garden species
The species is yearly returning guest in larger numbers in our garden.
2. BEHAVIOUR
2.1. ACTIVITY
The species is active from half April to half October [3].
More generations per year are possible [5].
2.2. DEVELOPMENT
Nest
The females of this hypergeic species gnaw nests in marrow of natural tube-like structures like plant stems [14], but also in abandoned insect burrows [16], cavities in masonry [12] and thatched roofs [5].
Nest consist of sequential rows of brood cells in corridors that can be up to 20 cm deep. Brood cells for males are smaller in length and diameter than those for females [4,13]. The nest medium can therefore be decisive for the ratio male to female [13] that will eventually emerge.
A thin mud wall of about 0,2mm in width is constructed between the brood cells [4,5,13] the walls towards the entrance of the nest are built thicker [5,13].
The nest often contains a vestibular cell [4,13], that may be short [4] or missing completely [4,13] and which may contain few prey specimen [13].
Nest cells are fill with 1-24 prey specimen [16,20], the final amount being determined by the combined weight of the prey specimen [20].
Nests may be shared with Passaloecus insignis [17], or Psenulus concolor [17].
Egg
Trypoxylon eggs are saussage shaped [13]. The egg is usually deposited on the underside of a prey specimen [5]. The egg is deposited on one of the prey specimen, and there seems to be no clear pattern [4,5,13].
Larva
After three to five days the larva emerges [4,5] which will finish growing in five to seven days and than starts spinning a cocoon in one or two days [5]. The cocoon is attached to the back wall and in case of large diameter cells [5] is suspended freely in the space by threads from the walls [4,5].
2.3. BEE HOTEL
The species likes to use artificial nesting help [4,5,17,18].
They use boreholes 2,5 – 6 mm in diameter [4,5,13].
Garden species
The species is a yearly returning guest on the bee hotels in our garden. She prefers nests in a heigth of 80-140cm. Higher nests are used as well but significantly less frequently.
2.4. HUNTING
A female can catch between 100-300 prey specimen per season [16].
Caught prey are stung [12] which will usually result in permanent paralysis [6].
3. PLANT RELATIONS
3.1. WOOD TYPES
The following wood types are mentioned in literature as medium for the wasp to built her nests in:
| Adoxaceae (Moschatel family) | |
| Asteraceae (Composite family) | Cirsium (Plume thistles) [13] |
| Onagraceae (Willowherb family) | Chamaenerion [13] |
| Poaceae (Grasses) | Phragmites – Phragmites australis (Common reed) [20] |
| Rosaceae (Rose family) | Rubus (Blackberry) [5,17] |
3.2. FOOD PLANTS
The following plant species are mentioned in literature as food sources:
| Apiaceae [4] (Umbellifers) | |
| Asteraceae [4] (Composite family) |
Garden species
The garden provides some of these food plants but I have not observed the species on it yet:
| Apiaceae (Umbellifers) | Foeniculum – Foeniculum vulgare (Fennel) Pastinaca – Pastinaca sativa (Parsnip) |
| Asteraceae (Composite family) | Solidago (Goldenrod) |
4. PREY RELATIONS
The species uses adult [13,20] and immature [13,14] spiders (Araneae) for her brood [3,14], and the prey spectrum consist primarily of web building spiders [20].
Phylloneta impressa seems to be the preferred prey species [20], but T. figulus does not seem to narrow its choice in prey and has a wide prey spectrum [20].
The following species and group occurring in the Netherlands [1] are mentioned in literature:
Araneidae [5as argiopidae] (Orb-weaver spiders) | Araneus [5,12 as Epeira,17] – Araneus angulatus (Angular orbweaver) [20immature] – Araneus diadematus (Garden spider) [14,20immature] – Araneus marmoreus (Marbled orbweaver) [14] – Araneus quadratus (Four-spotted orbweaver) [14] – Araneus sturmi [20adult] Araniella [14] – Araniella cucurbitina (Cucumber green orb spider) [20adult] – Araniella opisthographa [20adult] Argiope – Argiope bruennichi (Wasp spider) [20adult & immature] Cercidia – Cercidia prominens [13] Hypsosinga – Hypsosinga albovittata [13as Singa albovittata] – Hypsosinga pygmaea [13al Singa pygmaea] Mangora – Mangora acalypha (Cricket bat spider) [14,20adult & immature] Nuctenea – Nuctenea umbratica (Walnut orbweaver) [20immature] Neoscona – Neoscona adianta [14] Singa – Singa hamata [14] – Singa nitidula [14] Zilla [5,14,17] |
| Dictynidae | Dictyna [4,17] – Dictyna arundinacea [14] |
| Lycosidae [5] | Trochosa [13] – Trochosa ruricola (Rustic wolf spider) [13] |
| Linyphiidae [5,7,12] (Money spiders) | Agyneta – Agyneta rurestris [14,20adult as Meioneta rurestris] Bathyphantes [14] Floronia – Floronia bucculenta [20adult & immature] Kaestneria – Kaestneria dorsalis [14] Linyphia – Linyphia hortensis [20adult] – Linyphia triangularis (Common hammock weaver) [14,20adult & immature] Microlinyphia – Microlinyphia pusilla [20adult & immature] Microneta [5,17] Neriene – Neriene montana [14] – Neriene radiata [14,20volw.] Tenuiphantes – Tenuiphantes tenuis [20volw.] |
Salticidae [7] (Jumping spiders) | Heliophanus – Heliophanus flavipes [20adult & immature] Salticus [5,12,17] – Salticus scenicus [14] Synageles [5,17] – Synageles venator [14] |
Tetragnathidae | Tetragnatha [12,14] – Tetragnatha extensa [20adult & immature] Metellina [20adult & immature] – Metellina segmentata [14] |
| Theridiidae (Cobweb spiders) | Anelosimus – Anelosimus vittatus [20adult] Cryptachaea – Cryptachaea riparia [20adult & immature] Enoplognatha [20adult & immature] – Enoplognatha ovata [14,20adult & immature] Neottiura – Neottiura bimaculata [14,20adult ] Parasteatoda – Parasteatoda lunata [20adult] – Parasteatoda simulans [14] – Parasteatoda tepidariorum [14] Phylloneta – Phylloneta impressa [20vadul & immature, as Phylloneta impressum] – Phylloneta sisyphia [20adult] Platnickina – Platnickina tincta [14,20adult] Simitidion – Simitidion simile [14] Theridion [20adult & immature] – Theridion pictum [14] – Theridion pinastri [20adult & immature] – Theridion varians [14,20adult] |
| Thomisidae [7] (Crab spiders) | Xysticus [5,14,17] |
| Philodromidae | Philodromus – Philodromus aureolus [20adult & immature] – Philodromus cespitum [20immature] |
Prey species outside the Netherlands:
| Theridiidae (Cobweb spiders) | Theridion – Theridion sisyphium [14] |
5. PARASITIC RELATIONS
The following species and groups occurring in the Netherlands [1] are mentioned in literature:
| Chalcidoidae (Chalcid wasps) | Eulophidae Melittobia Melittobia acasta [14,20] Eurytomidae Eurytoma [13] – Eurytoma nodularis [14] – Eurytoma verticillata [14] Pteromalidae Dibrachys [20] Torymidae Monodontomerus Monodontomerus vicicellae [14] Torymus – Torymus armatus [13 as Diomorus armatus] |
| Chrysididae (Cuckoo wasps) | Chrysis – Chrysis fasciata [14] – Chrysis fulgida [14] – Chrysis ignita [7,14,20] – Chrysis obtusidens [14] – Chrysis rutilans [19] – Chrysis viridula [14] Elampus – Elampus panzeri [14] Pseudomalus – Pseudomalus auratus [3,13 as Omalus auratus,14,17 as Omalus auratus] – Pseudomalus pusillus [3,14,17 as Omalus auratus] Trichrysis – Trichrysis cyanea [3,7,8,13,14,20] |
| Evanioidae [3] | Gasteruption – Gasteruption assectator [3,14,15,17,20,21] – Gasteruption jaculator [14,15,21] – Gasteruption opacum [14,21] |
| Ichneumonidae (Ichneumon wasps) | Ephialtes – Ephialtes manifestator [20] Hoplocryptus – Hoplocryptus confector [18] Mastrus [13] Perithous – Perithous divinator [15,17] – Perithous mediator [3,17] – Perithous scurra [15] Poemenia – Poemenia notata [14] Polysphincta [14] Stenodontus – Stenodontus marginellus [14] Townesia –Townesia tenuiventris [5,14] |
| Coleoptera (Beetles) | Cleridae Trichodes – Trichodes alvearius [20] Dermestidae Megatoma – Megatoma undata [14] Trogoderma – Trogoderma glabrum [20] |
Diptera (Flies) | Anthomyiidae Eustalomyia – Eustalomyia hilaris [14] Bombyliidae Anthrax [20] Sarcophagidae Amobia – Amobia signata [14] Metopia – Metopia argyrocephala [14] Tachinidae [13] |
Parasitic species outside the Netherlands:
| Chrysididae | Chrysis |
| Ichneumonidae (Ichneumon wasps) | Aritranius [17] Hoplocryptus – Hoplocryptus heliophilus [14 as Aritranis heliophilus,18] – Hoplocryptus bohemani [18] Isadelphus – Isadelphus armatus [14] Nematopodius formosus – Nematopodius formosus [14] Thrybius – Thrybius brevispina [20] |
| Diptera (Flies) | Sarcophagidae Amobia – Amobia oculata [22] Miltogramma – Miltogramma punctatum [14] |
6. IDENTIFICATION
Length males: 7,5 – 10 mm
Length females: 9 – 12 mm
Genus
The genus Trypoxylon can be identified using the following characters:
1. Forewing: with one submarginal cell [9,10,11]
2. Eye: inner edge with deep U-shaped emargination [9,10,11]
3. Abdomen: black [10,11]. Wasp entirely black [9]
4. Abdomen: relatively very long [9,-11]
The abdomen protrudes relatively far from beneath the wings.
specimen caught for photo identification on 30-v-2022, length 12mm
1. Antenna with 12 segments [9,10,11]
2. Abdomen with 6 segments [9,10,11]
HEAD
1. Distance between eyes at vertex about as wide as the distance between the eyes at the clypeus [9,10,11]
2. Forehead (frons): without a shield-like area limited by carinae [10,11]
3. Forehead: medial keel above antennal inplant weakly elevated, en profil without clear bend towards forehead line [10,11]
4. Clypeus: apical edge between medial frontal lobe and eye irregularly emarginated [9,10,11]
5. Occipital carina: lower part not enlarged [9,10,11]
6. Head: upper side occiput with sparse prostrate hairs [10]
THORAX
1. Upper side thorax (mesonotum): mat [10,11]
2. Pronotum: rear edge black [9,11]
3. Foreleg: shin (tibia) and tarsus black [9,10,11]
4. Underside thorax (mesosternum): mid front, in front of forecoxae without thorn-like protrusion [9,10,11]
ABDOMEN
1. Length tergite 1 clearly shorter than combined length of tergites 2 and 3 [9,10,11]
specimen caught for photo identification on 03-vii-2021, length ±9mm
- Antenna with 13 segments [9,10,11]
2. Abdomen with 7 segments [9,10,11]
HEAD
1. Antenna: length last antennal segment (13) is 2,2 to 3,6x longer than wide at base [9,10,11] (here 3,4x)
2. Antenna: length last antennal segment (13) about as long as combined length segments 10, 11 and 12 [11]
3. Antenna: second last antennal segment 0,5-0,8x longer than wide at base [9,11] (here ±0,7x)
4. Forehead (frons): frons without a shield-like area limited by carinae [10,11]
5. Distance between eyes at frons (l1) about as wide as the distance between the eyes at the clypeus (l2) [9,10,11]
6. Forehead: medial keel forehead weakly elevated above antennae implants, en profil no clear indentation [10,11]
7. Occipital carina: lower part not enlarged [9,10,11]
THORAX
1. Upperside thorax (mesonotum): mat [10,11]
2. Pronotum: rear edge black [9,10,11]
3. Foreleg: shin (tibia) and tarsus black [9,10,11]
4. Mesosternum: mid front edge, in front of forecoxae without thorn-like protrusion [9,10,11]
5. Side thorax (mesopleuron): hairs on center mesopleuron longer than diameter frontal ocelle [9,10,11]
ABDOMEN
1. Length tergite 1 clearly shorter than combined length tergites 2 and 3 [9,10,11]
Literature
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