Sand or Thread-waisted Wasps
70Predatory wasps are a threat to caterpillars
You may have read other hubs of mine about my efforts and achievements in rearing Monarch Butterlies from caterpillar to adult insects but for the past year I haven't had any success despite a supply of food plants growing here. I think I have found out why though and why there are no female butterflies coming back to lay more eggs.
A predatory insect that I didn't used to see here has become a frequent sight and that insect is a Sand Wasp or Thread-waisted Wasp and it feeds its larvae on caterpillars.
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Thread-waisted wasp photos
A killing machine
One of the species we have here on Tenerife is Ammophila tydei of the family known as the Sphecidae. Its scientific name is in reference to Mt Teide, the mountain central to the island of Tenerife, and the highest mountain in Spain.
It is a large and distinctive insect and an effective hunting and killing machine. The mother wasp has to find enough caterpillars to feed her own young ones with. She flies about looking almost like a mini-drone aircraft as she hovers and flies in straight lines towards targets in her sights.
The mother wasps methodically search bushes and plants if they suspect may have caterpillars on them. If they find any moth or butterfly larvae they sting them and grab their prey which they carry away to place in a burrow they have previously dug in sandy soil. At least this is what most wasps of this genus do, although the ones I have been watching build nests of mud daubing on walls. A female I watched spent every day for nearly a month doing this on the wall by my balcony.
The wasp puts its paralysed caterpillar victims in its nest and then lays an egg. After it has done this it seals it off.
Because species in this family tend to make their burrows in sand and sandy soils they have earned the name Sand Wasp. Their alternative moniker, Thread-waisted Wasp, describes their physical appearance accurately. The body of the insect is carried at the end of a long thread-like waist that continues from the head and thorax area.
There are other closely related species, some of which build nests of mud, such as the aplty named Mud Dauber Wasp.
They are quite large insects over 2cm in length but they will not attack humans despite their somewhat scary appearance. The adult wasps feed on nectar from flowers.
Copyright © 2010 Steve Andrews. All Rights Reserved.
Thread-waisted wasp links
- Ammophila thread-waisted wasp pictures and information
Picture and information about the Ammophila thread-waisted wasp, a large, black and red-orange wasp whose larvae feed on caterpillars, from Eastern Washington. - Getting down to reality in Los Realejos
Los Realejos is a town in the mountains in the north of Tenerife and I often pass through it on the bus. I see buildings, and bars and shops and streets but nothing that calls out to me to get off and... - Ammophila Wasps
Ammophila are a genus of thread-waisted wasps. - Sphecidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Sphecid Wasps - Ammophila sp.
Explore unusual closeup photos of these large thread-waisted wasps sleeping and mating and eating, all those things wasps do so well.
Monarch Butterfly hub
- Recycled plastic water bottles help Monarch Butterfly conservation
Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) have been having a hard time of it in many areas of the world. Habitat destruction, pesticides and lack of their foodplants have all taken a heavy toll, and even pollen...
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Thanks, CM! I only have a balcony which doesn't help but I have not seen a Monarch for many months. I think the wasps can take various types of caterpillars and are finding sufficient in this area. They have as much right to life as the butterflies.
Hi Bard, I also love butterflys. You say you only have a balcony, did you ever think of hanging wasp traps? It may help. Just a thought.
It wouldn't help because these wasps only seek caterpillars and have clearly been successful away from my balcony having eliminated Monarchs from breeding successfully in the area. So there are now no adult butterflies to come and lay eggs on my plants. Unless a butterfly flies into this area I don't see the situation changing.
Surely, this is a sign of an imbalance somewhere in the chain? Too many wasps. Have you looked at why the wasps are so successful that they wipe out the butterflies? I reckon it's agro-chem interference? Are there any natural predators on the wasp that are being 'culled' by un-natural mankind? Some humming bird or other insect, perhaps? If that species were helped/reintroduced maybe things would look up for the monarch. I'm quite ignorant about butterflies but find these blogs of yours stimulating. Long live the monarch!
There is no imbalance, Fen! There are not many wasps but only a few are needed to take all the caterpillars on a plant. The Monarchs got here by chance and depend entirely on gardeners growing Milkweed and thus the population is always low and is limited not only by the number of places the plant grows but worse, the females tend to plaster their eggs all over plants they can find, which means there is insufficient food and the caterpillars starve. In 'normal' conditions there should be hundreds of Milkweed plants so each female can lay but one egg per plant. This has never been the case here because the plants do not grow wild. The wasps, however, are native to the island and are able to prey on many species so if there are no Monarch larvae they can feed on others. The Monarch only feeds on specific foodplants so is limited by that.If insufficient people such as myself choose to grow Milkweed here and help the butterflies then I suppose they could eventually die out and it will return to how it was before they colonised the island. I tell people to plant Milkweed and try passing on seeds but few people are interested. From an ecologists's point of view the butterfly should never have been here, but then that applies to countless introduced and naturalised species of plant and animal here.
CMHypno Level 6 Commenter 2 years ago
Very interesting Hub on sand wasps, Bard of Ely. I'm sorry that you are having trouble attracting the Monarch butterflies back to your garden, but it is always fascinating to read about the intricate relationship between all the insects, plants and animals in any habitat. Hope your butterflies return soon.