Scoliidae

Taxobox
name = Scoliidae


image_caption = male "Campsomeris" on "Solidago"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
superfamilia = Vespoidea
familia = Scoliidae
subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies
subdivision =
Scoliinae
Proscoliinae

Scoliidae, the scoliid wasps, is a small family represented by 6 genera and about 20 species in North America, but they occur worldwide, with a total of around 300 species. They tend to be black, often marked with yellow or orange, and their wing tips are distinctively corrugated. Males are more slender and elongate than females, with longer antennae, but the sexual dimorphism is not as extreme as is common in the Tiphiidae, a closely-related family.

Scoliid wasp larvae act as important biocontrol agents, feeding upon beetle larvae in the ground, including the serious pest, the Japanese beetle. Adult wasps may be minor pollinators of many wildflowers.

External Links

* [http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/misc/wasps/scoliid_wasps.htm Scoliid wasps of Florida] on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site