Canadian potter wasp

(Symmorphus canadensis)

Conservation Status
IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

not listed

Minnesota

not listed

 
Canadian potter wasp
Photo by Alfredo Colon
 
Description

Canadian potter wasp is a common, small, solitary wasp. It occurs in the United States from Maine to Maryland, west to Minnesota and Illinois, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia. It also occurs across southern Canada from Nova Scotia to British Columbia.

Adults are small. Wasp size is often given in terms of the length of the forewing. The female forewing length is 316 to 516 (4.5 to 7.3 mm), the male forewing length is 316 to ¼ (5.0 to 6.8 mm). The body is black with bright yellow markings. The front part of the body (mesosoma) is connected to the rear part (metasoma) by a narrow waist that is not elongated petiole-like.

On the female the head is black. There are two large compound eyes, one on each side of the head, and three small simple eyes (ocelli) in a triangle at the top of the head between the compound eyes. There is a pair of pits (cephalic foveae) behind the ocelli. The cephalic foveae are very large and are close to each other, separated by no more than 1.5 times their diameter. The inner margin of each compound eye is deeply notched. The antennae are thread-like and have 12 segments, including a long first segment (scape) at the base, a short second segment (pedicel), and a whip-like section (flagellum) with 10 segments (flagellomeres). The scape is black above, bright yellow below. The first flagellomere is at least 1.3 times as long as the second. The last flagellomere is not hooked at the tip. The plate on the face (clypeus) is black with a yellow crescent-shaped band on the upper margin that is sometimes broken into two narrowly separated spots. The cheeks (genae) narrow toward the bottom, tapering nearly to a point. The jaws (mandibles) are long, knife-like, and entirely black. There is a pair of small yellow spots above and between the antennae bases. The spots meet in the middle but do not merge into a single spot. There is also a small yellow spot behind each compound eye.

The thorax is black and has three segments, the prothorax, mesothorax, and metathorax. However, the first segment of the abdomen (propodeum) is fused to the thorax, giving the thorax the appearance of having four segments.

The upper plate on the prothorax (pronotum) is short and collar-like. It has a narrow transverse ridge (carina) on the front margin. It extends rearward on the sides to the plate at the base of each wing (tegula). It appears horseshoe-shaped when viewed from above, triangular when viewed from the side. It is mostly black except for a yellow band on the front margin of the upper surface. The band narrows toward the middle and is broadly interrupted in the middle, often appearing as two widely separated spots. The rear face of the pronotum does not have a pair of pits in the middle.

On the mesothorax, the large front plate (scutum) is black with no yellow markings. The scutum has two small projections at the rear corners called parategula, a feature common to all potter or mason wasps (Family Eumeninae). The parategulae are yellow. The smaller rear plate (scutellum) has a pair of rectangular, narrowly separated, yellow spots.

The upper surface of the metathorax is entirely black, with no yellow markings. The propodeum has a very prominent transverse ridge (submarginal carina). The tegulae are yellow, and there is a small yellow spot on the side of the thorax below each wing base.

The metasoma has six segments (tergites). The first tergite (T1) is wider than long, no more than 1.4 times as long as wide, and at least 0.7 times as wide as the second segment. There is a transverse ridge (carina) on the front margin and a shallow groove behind it in the middle. T1 is black with a yellow band at the rear. The band is narrowly notched in the middle, but it is complete, not interrupted. T2 is wider than T1, and it is almost as long as the remaining tergites combined. It has a yellow band at the rear. It does not have a small yellow spot on each side. T3 through T5 have a narrow yellow band at the rear that is often interrupted in the middle. T6 is entirely black.

The wings are smoky brown. The forewing has three submarginal cells. The first subdiscoidal cell does not touch the medial cell.

The legs are black and yellow. On each leg the third segment (femur) is mostly black, yellow just at the tip. On the hind legs, the underside of the femur is very densely covered with extremely short, velvet-like hair. The fourth segment (tibia) on the front and middle legs is mostly yellow but black on the underside on the outer half. The tibia on the middle legs has a single spur at the tip. The tibia on the hind legs is mostly yellow but black at the tip.

The male is similar but slightly smaller. The antennae have 13 segments. The flagellum is hooked at the tip, but the last flagellomere simple, not hooked. The clypeus is entirely yellow. The upperside of each mandible is yellow near the base. The metasoma has seven visible segments. T6 also has a yellow band at the rear margin.

 

Size

Male forewing length: 316 to ¼ (5.0 to 6.8 mm)

Female forewing length: 316 to 516 (4.5 to 7.3 mm)

 

Similar Species

 
Habitat

 

Biology

Season

Possibly two generations per year: early summer to early fall

 

Behavior

 

 

Life Cycle

A solitary nest is created in an existing cavity above ground. It is provisioned with the larvae of leaf mining beetles, especially two-coloured tortoise beetle, and moths. Mud is used to separate cells and to plug the opening of the nest.

 

Larva Hosts

Larvae of two-coloured tortoise beetle and other leaf mining beetles and moths

 

Adult Food

 

Distribution

Distribution Map

 

Sources

4, 24, 27, 29, 30, 82, 83.

Minnesota Bee Atlas

1/2/2025    
     

Occurrence

Common

Taxonomy

Order

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies)

Suborder

Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees)

Infraorder

Aculeata (ants, bees, and stinging wasps)

Superfamily

Vespoidea (vespoid wasps)

Family

Vespidae (hornets, paper wasps, potter wasps, and allies)

Subfamily

Eumeninae (potter and mason wasps)

Genus

Symmorphus

   

Subordinate Taxa

 

   

Synonyms

Odynerus debilis

Symmorphus cognitans

   

Common Names

Canada potter wasp

Canadian potter wasp

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Carina

An elevated keel or ridge.

 

Clypeus

On insects, a hardened plate on the face above the upper lip (labrum).

 

Femur

On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.

 

Flagellomere

A segment of the whip-like third section of an insect antenna (flagellum).

 

Gena

In insects: The area between the compound eye and the mandible; the cheek. In birds: The area between the the angle of the jaw and the bill; the feathered side (outside) of the under mandible. Plural: genae.

 

Mesosoma

In Hymenoptera: the front part of the body, consisting of all three segments of the thorax and the first segment of the abdomen, to which the wings are attached.

 

Metasoma

In Hymenoptera: the armored rear part of the body, consisting of the second segment of the abdomen and all segments posterior to it.

 

Ocellus

Simple eye; an eye with a single lens. Plural: ocelli.

 

Pedicel

On plants: the stalk of a single flower in a cluster of flowers. On insects: the second segment of the antennae. On Hymenoptera and Araneae: the narrow stalk connecting the thorax to the abdomen: the preferred term is petiole.

 

Pronotum

The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.

 

Scape

In plants: An erect, leafless stalk growing from the rootstock and supporting a flower or a flower cluster. In insects: The basal segment of the antenna.

 

Scutellum

The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.

 

Scutum

The forward (anterior) portion of the middle segment of the thorax (mesonotum) in insects and some arachnids.

 

Tergite

The upper (dorsal), hardened plate on a segment of the thorax or abdomen of an arthropod or myriapod.

 

Tibia

The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot). The fifth segment of a spider leg or palp.

 

Vertex

The upper surface of an insect’s head.

 

 

 

 

Visitor Photos
 

Share your photo of this insect.

 

This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.

Alfredo Colon

Canadian potter wasp   Canadian potter wasp
     
Canadian potter wasp    
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos
 
   

 

   

 

 

Camera

Slideshows

 

 
 

 

slideshow

Visitor Videos
 

Share your video of this insect.

 

This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.

 

 

 
 
Other Videos

 

 
 

 

Camcorder

Visitor Sightings
 

Report a sighting of this insect.

 

This button not working for you?
Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.

Alfredo Colon
6/3/2021

Location: Woodbury, MN

Canadian potter wasp
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

 

 

 

Binoculars

 

Created: 1/3/2025

Last Updated:

© MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved.

About Us

Privacy Policy

Contact Us