crabonid wasp

(Astata unicolor)

Conservation Status
crabonid wasp (Astata unicolor)
Photo by Alfredo Colon
  IUCN Red List

not listed

 
  NatureServe

not listed

 
  Minnesota

not listed

 
           
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Astata unicolor is a solitary, ground nesting, predatory wasp. It occurs across southern Canada, throughout the United States and Mexico, and in Central America. It is the most common Astata species in eastern North America, but it is not common anywhere. It is the only Astata species recorded in Minnesota. Adults are found in July and August in fields and savannas.

Adults are small, stout bodied, and hairy. Females are to ½ (9 to 13 mm) in length. Males are a little larger, to 916 (10 to 14 mm) in length. The body is shiny but coarsely pitted (punctate).

On the female the head is entirely black and is thickly covered with short, erect, silvery-white hairs. The compound eyes are black and large. They do not meet at the top of the head. The top of the head is heavily pitted. The antennae have 12 segments, composed the scape and pedicel at the base and a whip-like third section (flagellum). The first flagellomere is the longest, the second is much shorter, and the remaining become progressively smaller.

The thorax is entirely black and is thickly covered with short, erect, silvery-white hairs. The upper side is shiny. The exoskeletal plate covering the first segment of the thorax (pronotum) is short and collar-like.

The abdomen has 6 segments and may be either entirely red or entirely black. Each segment has short, sparse hairs on the margins. On the underside of the abdomen there are sparse, bristle-like hairs on the front margin of each segment.

The forewing is mostly light brown, darker toward the tip. The marginal cell is long, extending beyond the third submarginal cell, and it is cut off (truncate) at the end, not pointed. The marginal vein continues a short distance beyond the marginal cell. There are three submarginal cells. The first recurrent vein meets the second submarginal cell near the middle. On the hindwing the anal lobe is narrow. The rear lobe at the base (jugal lobe) is long, much more than half as long as the anal area.

The legs are black, hairy, and spiny. The fourth segment on the middle leg has two spurs at the tip. The last part of the leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has five segments. The last segment has a pair of claws at the tip. The claws are not split. The tibia and tarsus are spiny, especially on the middle and hind legs.

On the male the compound eyes are reddish-brown and meet at the top of the head. The antennae have 13 segments. The fourth through eighth flagellomeres are enlarged and broadly convex below. The abdomen has 7 segments and is always entirely black. The first segment has long twisted hairs. The remaining segments have short hairs on the margins. The hairs on the underside of the abdomen are long and twisted. The wings are clear, sometimes light brown in the central area. On the hindwing the anal lobe is very broad.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Female: to ½ (9 to 13 mm)

Male: to 916 (10 to 14 mm)

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Fields and savannas

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

July and August (CCESR)

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

The female constructs a short-sided burrow, often with just a single cell, in loose soil. She provisions it with the larva of a stink bug.

 
     
 

Larva Food

 
 

Paralyzed larva of several species of stink bugs, including brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys), dusky stink bug (Euschistus tristigmus luridus) and spined soldier bug (Podisus maculiventris).

 
     
 

Adult Food

 
 

Flower nectar

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

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

 
  8/24/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Widely distributed. Not common anywhere.

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
 

Order

Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies)  
 

Suborder

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

Infraorder

Aculeata (ants, bees, and stinging wasps)  
 

Superfamily

Apoidea (bees and apoid wasps)  
 

Family

Crabronidae (square-headed wasps, sand wasps, and allies)  
 

Subfamily

Astatinae  
 

Genus

Astata  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

Astata insularis

Astata rufiventris

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

This species has no common name. One of the common names for the family Crabronidae is crabonid wasps, and it is adopted here for convenience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Flagellomere

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

 

Jugal lobe

In Hymenoptera: The rear lobe at the base of the hindwing.

 

Pronotum

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

 

Punctate

Dotted with pits (punctures), translucent sunken glands, or colored spots of pigment.

 

Tarsus

On insects, the last two to five subdivisions of the leg, attached to the tibia; the foot. On spiders, the last segment of the leg. Plural: tarsi.

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Alfredo Colon

 
    crabonid wasp (Astata unicolor)   crabonid wasp (Astata unicolor)  
           
    crabonid wasp (Astata unicolor)   crabonid wasp (Astata unicolor)  
           
 
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Other Videos
 
  Astata Unicolor Wasp Carrying Brown Marmorated Stinkbug Nymph
Candle-Lit Scene
 
   
 
About

Feb 7, 2022

 

 

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  Alfredo Colon
8/28 or 8/29/2019

Location: Woodbury, MN

crabonid wasp (Astata unicolor)  
  Alfredo Colon
8/19/2019

Location: Woodbury, MN

crabonid wasp (Astata unicolor)  
  Alfredo Colon
8/5/2019

Location: Woodbury, MN

crabonid wasp (Astata unicolor)  
           
 
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Created: 8/25/2022

Last Updated:

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