Life cycle of Huarpea fallax in a xeric forest in Argentina (Hymenoptera: Sapygidae)

JUAN PABLO TORRETTA

JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2014 vol. 48 p. 1125 - 1134

0022-2933

This study describes the life cycle of Huarpea fallax (Hymenoptera: Sapygidae) in a xeric forest in La Pampa province, Argentina. This cleptoparasitic wasp attacks nests of two species of leaf-cutter bees: Megachile catamarcensis and Anthidium vigintipunctatum, both belonging to the family Megachilidae. Nests of these bee species were obtained during a trap-nesting program. Adult emergence showed a unimodal pattern indicating a univoltine life cycle. The period from egg-laying to adult emergence lasted for 10-13 months; however, one female took about two years to emerge, suggesting parsivoltinism. Most females attack one cell per host nest, the outermost cells being the ones most parasitized. However, the position of the attacked cells was variable. In this paper, although there were insufficient data to prove a correlation, the data suggest a positive trend between body size of sapygid wasps and their host bees.