Wasp Wednesday Week 7: Chrysis nitidula Fabricius, 1775
This week’s wasp is the cuckoo wasp species Chrysis nitidula! This species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in the year 1775. This specimen was collected by Frost Museum namesake Stuart Frost in 1958, and was identified as this species (as synonym Chrysis coerulans) by the hymenopterist Karl Krombein. These wasps are both beautiful and bizarre – read on to learn more about their life histories and what makes them some of the most-beloved wasps!
Taxonomy: This species is a member of the family Chrysididae, which contains the cuckoo wasps. Members of this family are sometimes referred to as jewel wasps, which sometimes causes confusion with species of the family Ampulicidae. The family Chrysididae contains over 3,000 living species and can be found worldwide. More than 200 species in around 30 genera are known from North America. The genus Chrysis to which this week’s species belongs is considered by many to be quite messy and improperly-characterized, as the characters used to associate its members do not properly reflect their evolution.
Identification: The cuckoo wasps are often incredibly easy to distinguish from other wasp groups.
Members of this family are typically brilliant, gem-like colors and are almost always metallic. Many species are a brilliant emerald green and turquoise, while
others are bright red, deep blue (like this specimen), or even purple or pink! Because of their brilliant colors, they’re often referred to as emerald, ruby, or even sapphire wasps! Typical members of the family are heavily covered in conspicuous pits over much of the body. More precisely, chrysidids have thirteen antennal segments, five or fewer exposed metasomal terga, and fairly characteristic wing venation.
Natural History: The common name “cuckoo wasp” may remind you of the cuckoo bird (Aves: Cuculidae). In fact, the term “cuckoo” in this case is accurate for both groups. The cuckoo bird lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, and when the eggs hatch, the nest’s true owner feeds and cares for the cuckoo bird’s offspring. The cuckoo wasps exhibit this same behavior – particularly in the nominate subfamily Chrysidinae – but they take it one step further. Cuckoo wasps lay their eggs in the nests of other wasps, but instead of simply being cared for by the host, they instead eat the other eggs or larvae present in the nest and eat food provisioned for them. This unusual lifestyle is called kleptoparasitism, wherein an organism steals resources from another instead of a more direct form of parasitism.
View This Species On:
BugGuide: https://bugguide.net/node/view/205363
iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/937971-Chrysis-nitidula/
References:
- Aguiar, A. P., Deans, A. R., Engel, M. S., Forshage, M., Huber, J. T., Jennings, J. T., … & Miko, I. (2013). Order Hymenoptera. In: Zhang, Z.-Q.(Ed.) Animal Biodiversity: An Outline of Higher-level Classification and Survey of Taxonomic Richness (Addenda 2013). Zootaxa, 3703(1), 51-62.
- Goulet, H., Huber, J. T. (1993). Hymenoptera of the world: An identification guide to families. Ottawa: Research Branch Agriculture Canada.
Leave a Reply