Mason wasp facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mason wasp |
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Crabronidae
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P. spinolae
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| Pison spinolae Shuckard (1837)
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The Pison spinolae, often called the mason wasp, is a type of solitary wasp. This means it lives alone, not in a big group like honey bees. You can find these wasps all over New Zealand.
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About the Mason Wasp
Like all insects, the mason wasp has a hard outer shell called an exoskeleton. It also has one pair of antennae and three pairs of strong legs. These legs are very important because the wasp uses them to carry spiders back to its nest for its young.
The mason wasp's body has three main parts: the head, the middle section called the thorax, and the end part called the abdomen. It also has two pairs of wings. A special feature of the mason wasp, like other wasps, is its very thin waist between the thorax and abdomen. This helps you tell it apart from a bee.
Unlike bees, the mason wasp can use its stinger many times. It uses its stinger to inject venom into spiders. This venom makes the spiders unable to move, which is called paralyzing them. This way, the adult female wasp can easily carry the spider back to her nest.
Most people think of wasps as black and yellow, but the mason wasp is different. Its body is completely black and it's about 16 millimetres (0.63 in) long.
Their Nests
Mason wasps build their nests mostly from sand and mud. Their nests are small and can be found in many places, like cracks in buildings or even keyholes. The easiest way to spot a mason wasp nest is by its unique design. It has many small, separate rooms. Each room is sealed off and contains a paralyzed spider and one of the female wasp's offspring.
How They Grow
The mason wasp starts as a white, oval-shaped egg. This egg soon hatches into a larva, which is white with a clear skin and a distinct head. In less than three weeks, the larva grows to its full size. About a month after the egg was laid, the larva starts to form a cocoon. The cocoon is grey, shaped like a cylinder, and rounded at both ends.
Unlike many other wasps in New Zealand, the mason wasp has two generations each year. One generation grows during the summer without stopping. The other generation grows during winter and takes a long rest period, called a diapause. In the spring, after this rest, the larva changes into a pupa. After about 14 days as a pupa, an adult wasp comes out.
When the adult wasps emerge, the male wasps fly around the nesting areas. This is when the females are ready to mate. Most solitary wasps mate only once in their lives, usually right after they emerge.
Where Mason Wasps Live
The Pison group of wasps, which includes the mason wasp, is common in warm and mild areas, especially in the southern half of the world. Many species are found in Australia. The P. spinolae is native to New Zealand. Scientists think it arrived from Australia around 1880.
You can find the mason wasp widely across New Zealand. There are quite a few of them, but not so many that they cause big problems for the spider populations they hunt.
Their Favorite Places to Build Nests
Mason wasps can live in many different places. They build nests in sand dunes, cracks in buildings, holes in wood, keyholes, and even small spaces on ships and airplanes. Because they can build nests in these places, humans sometimes accidentally help spread the wasps to new areas without even knowing it!
What Mason Wasps Eat and How They Hunt
Adult mason wasps get their energy from sweet liquids. They drink nectar from flowers and honeydew, which is a sugary liquid made by some insects. Adult Pison wasps usually don't eat live prey. However, sometimes they have been seen eating mosquitoes and other insects, especially when nectar is hard to find.
Female wasps are the hunters. They search for spiders to feed their young. When a female finds a spider, she stings it to make it paralyzed. Then, she carries the spider back to her nest. Inside the nest, she places the paralyzed spider in its own small room. She then lays an egg on or near the spider. After that, she seals off the room with mud or even animal waste.
The paralyzed spider stays in the room and doesn't rot. When the larva hatches from the egg, it eats the spider for food. Each room in the nest is next to another, creating a larger nest. Sealing off each egg and spider helps make sure that each young wasp gets enough food and doesn't have to compete with its siblings.
Enemies and Parasites
The mason wasp is a main host for a tiny wasp called Melittobia australica. This small wasp is a parasite, meaning it lives off another creature. When the female M. australica finds a mason wasp host, usually when the mason wasp is a larva or pupa, she lays her eggs inside or on it.
Another parasite of the mason wasp is Melittobia clavicornis. This is the most common animal found in mason wasp nests. It often lives inside the mason wasp's cocoon when the wasp is in its pupal stage. If a nest is infested with M. clavicornis, up to half of the mason wasp young might die. Scientists are not sure how M. clavicornis gets into the cocoon. One idea is that it drills a hole through the cocoon to feed on the pupae. Another idea is that the adult M. clavicornis lays its eggs on the mason wasp larva before the cocoon is even built.
Scientists have also found tiny creatures called mites, specifically Pyemotes ventricosus and Tyrophagus castellanii, in mason wasp cocoons. These mites seem to get in through holes made by M. clavicornis. It's not yet known what effect these mites have on the mason wasp.
Interesting Facts
As a solitary wasp, the female mason wasp spends most of her life building her nest. While she is working with the mud, she makes a soft whining sound. After the female lays her eggs, she doesn't take care of her offspring anymore. The paralyzed spider in the nest is the only food and care the young wasp gets.
The male mason wasp patrols the nest area. He waits for the female wasps to emerge so he can mate with them as soon as they leave the nest. After this, there is no more interaction between the male and female wasps.
Adult mason wasps are usually active during the day and prefer direct sunlight. They are much less active when it's cloudy or raining.
