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Grass-carrying Wasps, genus Isodontia, are medium-sized, slender thread-waisted wasps about 13 to 21 mm long. The abdomen sits on a long, thin stalk (petiole). Most are black, though some are partly reddish brown, and the wings are tinted smoky black or reddish brown, often with blue reflections. The thorax is covered in long hairs that are pale, dark, or golden depending on the species. North America has six species. I. apicalis, I. mexicana, and I. philadelphica are all black; I. auripes has brownish red legs; I. exornata has a red petiole and red legs; and I. elegans has red legs, golden thorax hairs, and an abdomen that is often marked with red. Because the species are hard to tell apart, this listing is sold as Isodontia sp.
The genus is found worldwide, with more than 60 species, and six species live in North America north of Mexico. Grass-carrying Wasps live in open areas, fields, and grassy places, wherever they can find both prey and ready-made cavities for nests. They do not dig their own burrows. Instead they nest above ground in hollow plant stems, abandoned carpenter bee tunnels and other insect galleries, bee hotels, holes in soil banks, gaps between rocks, and even the pitchers of pitcher plants. Around homes they often choose the tracks of storm windows and sliding windows, folded patio umbrellas, and other narrow spaces. The Mexican Grass-carrying Wasp, I. mexicana, a native of North America, has also become established in Europe.
Adults are active in summer, for example July and August in Michigan, and spend much of their time visiting flowers for nectar. The common name comes from the female’s habit of flying to her nest carrying long blades of grass, sometimes several inches long, which she uses to build partitions and plugs. She hunts tree crickets and katydids, paralyzes them with her sting, and carries them back to the nest as food for her young. These wasps are solitary, not aggressive, and do not defend their nests. They can sting only if handled.
Isodontia undergoes complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, adult). Adults emerge in early summer and mate, and each female chooses a cavity, divides it into cells with grass, stocks the cells with paralyzed tree crickets or katydids, and lays her eggs. She closes the nest with a plug of packed grass, often leaving a tuft of grass sticking out of the entrance. The larvae are legless, cream to yellow grubs that eat the stored crickets. In warm weather they can reach full size in 4 to 6 days, then spin papery, yellow-brown cocoons. Some species have one generation per year and pass the winter as full-grown larvae inside the cocoons, while I. mexicana typically has two generations a year in Pennsylvania.
Grass-carrying Wasps are beneficial native predators of tree crickets and katydids and are harmless to people. At worst they are a minor nuisance when they pack grass into window tracks or other openings on a house. The nests can simply be pulled out by hand, and extension entomologists say pesticides are not needed or recommended.
This preserved specimen educates on solitary wasp nesting behavior and cavity-nesting predators, suitable for displays or studies. Check it out on BugGuide! https://bugguide.net/node/view/5691
Grass-carrying Wasps, genus Isodontia, are medium-sized, slender thread-waisted wasps about 13 to 21 mm long. The abdomen sits on a long, thin stalk (petiole). Most are black, though some are partly reddish brown, and the wings are tinted smoky black or reddish brown, often with blue reflections. The thorax is covered in long hairs that are pale, dark, or golden depending on the species. North America has six species. I. apicalis, I. mexicana, and I. philadelphica are all black; I. auripes has brownish red legs; I. exornata has a red petiole and red legs; and I. elegans has red legs, golden thorax hairs, and an abdomen that is often marked with red. Because the species are hard to tell apart, this listing is sold as Isodontia sp.
The genus is found worldwide, with more than 60 species, and six species live in North America north of Mexico. Grass-carrying Wasps live in open areas, fields, and grassy places, wherever they can find both prey and ready-made cavities for nests. They do not dig their own burrows. Instead they nest above ground in hollow plant stems, abandoned carpenter bee tunnels and other insect galleries, bee hotels, holes in soil banks, gaps between rocks, and even the pitchers of pitcher plants. Around homes they often choose the tracks of storm windows and sliding windows, folded patio umbrellas, and other narrow spaces. The Mexican Grass-carrying Wasp, I. mexicana, a native of North America, has also become established in Europe.
Adults are active in summer, for example July and August in Michigan, and spend much of their time visiting flowers for nectar. The common name comes from the female’s habit of flying to her nest carrying long blades of grass, sometimes several inches long, which she uses to build partitions and plugs. She hunts tree crickets and katydids, paralyzes them with her sting, and carries them back to the nest as food for her young. These wasps are solitary, not aggressive, and do not defend their nests. They can sting only if handled.
Isodontia undergoes complete metamorphosis (egg, larva, pupa, adult). Adults emerge in early summer and mate, and each female chooses a cavity, divides it into cells with grass, stocks the cells with paralyzed tree crickets or katydids, and lays her eggs. She closes the nest with a plug of packed grass, often leaving a tuft of grass sticking out of the entrance. The larvae are legless, cream to yellow grubs that eat the stored crickets. In warm weather they can reach full size in 4 to 6 days, then spin papery, yellow-brown cocoons. Some species have one generation per year and pass the winter as full-grown larvae inside the cocoons, while I. mexicana typically has two generations a year in Pennsylvania.
Grass-carrying Wasps are beneficial native predators of tree crickets and katydids and are harmless to people. At worst they are a minor nuisance when they pack grass into window tracks or other openings on a house. The nests can simply be pulled out by hand, and extension entomologists say pesticides are not needed or recommended.
This preserved specimen educates on solitary wasp nesting behavior and cavity-nesting predators, suitable for displays or studies. Check it out on BugGuide! https://bugguide.net/node/view/5691
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