Scoliidae

{{Short description|Family of wasps}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Scoliidae | image = Scoliid wasp (Megascolia bidens) male Cap Bon 2.jpg | image_caption = ''Megascolia bidens'', Tunisia | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Scoliidae | authority = Latreille, 1802 | subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies | subdivision = Campsomerinae Scoliinae Proscoliinae †Archaeoscoliinae †Palaeoscoliinae }} '''Scoliidae''', the '''scoliid wasps''' or '''mammoth wasps''',<ref name=WaspWeb/><ref name=Kimsey2022/> is a family of wasps comprising about 300 described species worldwide.<ref name="Entomolody">{{cite book |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Entomology/latCAAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA342 |page=342 |title=Entomology |author=Cedric Gillott |isbn=9781402031830 |year=2005 |publisher=Springer Netherlands}}</ref> They tend to be black, often marked with yellow or orange, and their wing tips are distinctively corrugated. Males are more slender and elongated than females, with significantly longer antennae, but the sexual dimorphism is not as apparent as in many of the Tiphiidae and Thynnidae.

== Biology == Scoliid wasps are solitary parasitoids of larvae, most frequently those of the scarab beetle. Female scoliids burrow into the ground or into rotting wood, in search of these larvae and then use their sting to paralyze them.<ref name="Entomolody"/> When locating hosts, they may burrow through the soil or follow tunnels already created by scarab larvae.<ref name="Bonnie"/> The females are often observed flying close to the ground while searching for scarab larvae in the soil and they sometimes excavate a chamber and move the paralyzed beetle larva into it before depositing an egg.<ref name="Bonnie"/><ref name=Liu2021/> The female lays a single egg on the paralysed grub, often attached transversely to one of the larva's abdominal segments.<ref name="Bonnie">{{Cite web |title=Scoliid wasps are on the prowl |work=Goldsboro News-Argus |author=Bonnie Faulkner |via=Newspapers.com |date=4 August 2004 |page=34 |access-date=9 March 2026 |url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/goldsboro-news-argus/193008286/}}</ref> Scoliid wasps act as important biocontrol agents, as many of the beetles they parasitize are pests, including the Japanese beetle. Male scoliids patrol territories, ready to mate with females emerging from the ground. Adult wasps may be minor pollinators of some plants and can be found on many wildflowers in the late summer.<ref name=Liu2021/>

Scoliidae has at least one species known to engage in pseudocopulation with an orchid. Flowers of the orchid ''Bipinnula penicillata'' in subtropical South America resemble females of ''Pygodasis bistrimaculata'', tricking male wasps into attempting to mate and, in the process, provide pollination.<ref name=Ciotek2005/> Scoliids include some of the largest wasps in the world, such as ''Megascolia procer.''<ref name=Sarrazin2008/>

==Taxonomy== thumb|right|Face of a scoliid wasp in coded color, illustrating the main features: {{legend|#000000|ocellar pits}} {{legend|#40A3E4|ocellar furrow}} {{legend|#F8F8FA|three simple eyes}} {{legend|#BDC8CE|two compound eyes}} {{legend|#C97B8B|vertex, above curved ''carina frontalis''}} {{legend|#A76571|frons, below curved ''carina frontalis'' and bisected by ''fissura frontalis''}} {{legend|#6D3B3C|scrobe}} {{legend|#FFB5CF|''area frontalis''}} {{legend|#B446B7|clypeus}} {{legend|#8D37F2|anterior margin of clypeus}} {{legend|#FF0000|mandibles}} {{legend|#F4E729|antennal scapes}} {{legend|#FF5E32|''lamina frontalis''}} {{legend|#FCA931|''spatium frontale'' or frontal space}} Adapted from K. V. Krombein (1978)<ref name=Krombein1978/>

[[File:Scolia bicincta. female.jpg|thumb|''Scolia bicincta'' female, Pennsylvania]] [[File:Megascolia procer MHNT dos.jpg|right|thumb|''Megascolia procer'', Indonesia]] Living scoliidae genera are classified as follows into three subfamilies.<ref name=Osten2005/><ref name=WaspWeb/><ref name=Kimsey2022/><ref name=Liu2024/> There are additionally two subfamilies known only from the fossil record.<ref name=Rasnitsyn1993/><ref name=Antropov2014/>

===Subfamily Proscoliinae Rasnitsyn, 1977=== *''Proscolia'' Rasnitsyn 1977<ref name=FaunaEuropaea/>

===Subfamily Campsomerinae Betrem, 1972=== ====Tribe Campsomerini Betrem, 1972==== *''Aelocampsomeris'' Bradley 1957 *''Aureimeris'' Betrem, 1972 *''Australelis'' Betrem, 1962 *''Campsomeriella'' Betrem, 1941 *''Campsomeris'' Lepeletier, 1838 *''Cathimeris'' Betrem, 1972 *''Charimeris'' Betrem, 1971 *''Colpacampsomeris'' Betrem, 1967 *''Dasyscolia'' Bradley, 1951 *''Dielis'' Saussure & Sichel, 1864 *''Extrameris'' Betrem, 1972 *''Laevicampsomeris'' Betrem, 1933 *''Leomeris'' Betrem, 1972 *''Lissocampsomeris'' Bradley, 1957 *''Megacampsomeris'' Betrem, 1928 *''Megameris'' Betrem, 1967 *''Micromeriella'' Betrem, 1972 *''Peltatimeris'' Betrem, 1972 *''Phalerimeris'' Betrem, 1967 *''Pseudotrielis'' Betrem, 1928 *''Pygodasis'' Bradley, 1957 *''Radumeris'' Betrem, 1962 *''Rhabdotomeris'' Bradley, 1957 *''Sericocampsomeris'' Betrem, 1941 *''Sphenocampsomeris'' Bradley, 1957 *''Stygocampsomeris'' Bradley, 1957 *''Tenebromeris'' Betrem, 1963 *''Trisciloa'' Gribodo, 1893 *''Tristimeris'' Betrem, 1967 *''Tubatimeris'' Betrem, 1972 *''Tureimeris'' Betrem, 1972 *''Xanthocampsomeris'' Bradley, 1957

===Subfamily Scoliinae Latreille, 1802=== ====Tribe Scoliini Latreille, 1802==== *''Austroscolia'' Betrem, 1927 *''Carinoscolia'' Betrem, 1927 *''Diliacos'' Saussure & Sichel, 1864 *''Laeviscolia'' Betrem, 1928 *''Liacos'' Guérin-Méneville, 1838 *''Megascolia'' Betrem, 1928 *''Microscolia'' Betrem, 1928 *''Mutilloscolia'' Bradley, 1959 *''Pyrrhoscolia'' Bradley, 1957 *''Scolia'' Fabricius 1775 *''Triscolia'' de Saussure 1863

====Tribe Trielidini Betrem, 1972==== *''Colpa'' Dufour, 1841 *''Guigliana'' Betrem, 1967

===Subfamily †Archaeoscoliinae Rasnitsyn, 1993=== The subfamily Archaeoscoliinae is known exclusively from the fossil record, with the largest diversity having lived during the Cretaceous (Barremian) before going extinct by the late Eocene (Priabonian). *†''Archaeoscolia'' {{small|Rasnitsyn, 1993}}<ref name=Rasnitsyn1993/> **†''Archaeoscolia hispanica'' {{small|Rasnitsyn & Martínez-Delclòs, 1999}}<ref name=Rasnitsyn1999/> **†''Archaeoscolia senilis'' {{small|Rasnitsyn, 1993}}<ref name=Rasnitsyn1993/> *†''Cretoscolia'' {{small|Rasnitsyn, 1993}}<ref name=Rasnitsyn1993/> **†''Cretoscolia brasiliensis'' {{small|Osten, 2007}}<ref name=Osten2007/> **†''Cretoscolia conquensis'' {{small|Rasnitsyn & Martínez-Delclòs, 1999}}<ref name=Rasnitsyn1999/> **†''Cretoscolia formosa'' {{small|Zhang, 2004}}<ref name=Zhang2004/> **†''Cretoscolia laiyangica'' {{small|Zhang, 2004}}<ref name=Zhang2004/> **†''Cretoscolia montsecana'' {{small|Rasnitsyn & Martínez-Delclòs, 1999}}<ref name=Rasnitsyn1999/> **†''Cretoscolia patiens'' {{small|Rasnitsyn, 1993}}<ref name=Rasnitsyn1993/> **†''Cretoscolia promissiva'' {{small|Rasnitsyn, 1993}}<ref name=Rasnitsyn1993/> **†''Cretoscolia rasnitsyni'' {{small|Zhang, 2004}}<ref name=Zhang2004/> *†''Floriscolia'' {{small|Rasnitsyn, 1993}}<ref name=Rasnitsyn1993/> **†''Floriscolia relicta'' {{small|Rasnitsyn, 1993}}<ref name=Rasnitsyn1993/> *†''Protoscolia'' {{small|Zhang ''et al.'', 2002}}<ref name=Zhang2002/> **†''Protoscolia imperialis'' {{small|Zhang ''et al.'', 2002}} **†''Protoscolia normalis'' {{small|Zhang ''et al.'', 2002}} **†''Protoscolia sinensis'' {{small|Zhang ''et al.'', 2002}}

Three additional undescribed specimens from the Ypresian Eocene Okanagan Highlands were referred to the subfamily by S. Bruce Archibald ''et al.'' (2018). The two fossils from the Klondike Mountain Formation of Northeastern Washington state, and one fossil from the Allenby Formation of South central British Columbia were mentioned briefly but no specific commentary on placement or finer taxonomic detail was presented in the paper.<ref name=Archibald2018/>

===Subfamily †Palaeoscoliinae Antropov, 2014=== A second fossil subfamily, Palaeoscoliinae, was described from the Late Eocene to comprise a single species. This species was morphologically closer to the Scoliinae than to the Archaeoscoliinae.<ref name=Antropov2014/> *†''Palaeoscolia'' {{small|Antropov, 2014}} **†''Palaeoscolia relicta'' {{small|Antropov, 2014}}

== History == In 1847 and 1849 Eduard Eversmann published his "Fauna Hymenopterologica Volgo-Uralensis—exhibiting the species of Hymenoptera which he observed and described in the provinces situated between the Volga river and the Ural mountains." He placed the Scoliadae {{small|Latreille, 1802}} as a subfamily of the Sphegidae {{small|Latreille, 1802}}. He mentioned the genus ''Scolia'' {{small|Fabricius, 1775}} with 13 species, the genus ''Tiphia'' {{small|Fabricius, 1775}} with 3 species, and the genus ''Meria'' {{small| Illiger, 1807}}, with only the species ''Meria sexpunctata''.<ref name=Evermann1847/>

==North American species list== There are 36 species of Scoliidae reported to occur in North America. Two additional species, ''Campsomeriella annulata'' (Fabricius, 1793) and ''Micromeriella marginella'' (Klug, 1810), were introduced to the United States but failed to become established.<ref name=Nearctica/><ref name=Ramírez-Guillén2022/>

*''Aelocampsomeris variegata'' (Fabricius, 1793) – Mexico, Central America *''Campsomeris atrata'' (Fabricius, 1775) – Caribbean *''Campsomeris vitripennis'' (Smith, 1855) – Mexico, Central America *''Colpa (Colpa) octomaculata'' (Say, 1823) – United States, Mexico *''Colpa (Colpa) pollenifera'' (Viereck, 1906) – United States, Mexico *''Colpa (Crioscolia) alcione'' (Banks, 1917) – United States, Mexico *''Colpa (Crioscolia) flammicoma'' (Bradley, 1928) – United States, Mexico *''Dielis dorsata'' (Fabricius, 1787) – United States, Caribbean, Mexico, Central America *''Dielis pilipes'' (Saussure, 1858) – United States, Mexico *''Dielis plumipes'' (Drury, 1770) – United States *''Dielis tejensis'' Szafranski, 2023 – United States *''Dielis tolteca'' (Saussure, 1857) – United States, Mexico, Central America *''Dielis trifasciata'' (Fabricius, 1793) – United States, Caribbean *''Lissocampsomeris wesmaeli'' (Lepeletier, 1845) – Mexico, Central America *''Pygodasis ephippium'' (Say, 1837) – United States, Mexico, Central America *''Pygodasis hyalina'' (Saussure, 1864) – Mexico *''Pygodasis ianthina'' (Bradley, 1945) – Mexico, Central America *''Pygodasis vittata'' (Sichel, 1864) – Mexico, Central America *''Pygodasis quadrimaculata'' (Fabricus, 1775) – United States *''Rhabdotimeris rokitanskyi'' (Dalla Torre, 1897) – Mexico, Central America *''Scolia bicincta'' (Fabricius, 1775) – United States *''Scolia dubia'' (Say, 1837) – United States, Mexico *''Scolia fuscipennis'' Bartlett, 1912 – Mexico *''Scolia guttata'' (Burmeister, 1853) – United States, Mexico, Central America *''Scolia mexicana'' (Saussure, 1858) – United States, Mexico *''Scolia nobilitata'' (Fabricius, 1805) – United States, Mexico *''Scolia rufiventris'' Fabricius, 1804 – Mexico, Central America *''Scolia vintschgaui'' Dalla Torre, 1893 – Mexico *''Stygocampsomeris servillei'' (Guérin, 1838) – Mexico, Central America *''Triscolia ardens'' (Smith, 1855) – United States, Mexico *''Triscolia badia'' (Saussure, 1863) – Mexico *''Xanthocampsomeris completa'' (Rohwer, 1927) – United States, Mexico, Central America *''Xanthocampsomeris fulvohirta'' (Cresson, 1865) – United States, Caribbean *''Xanthocampsomeris hesterae'' (Rohwer, 1921) – United States, Mexico, Central America *''Xanthocampsomeris limosa'' (Burmeister, 1853) – United States, Mexico *''Xanthocampsomeris tricincta'' (Fabricius, 1775) – Caribbean

== References == {{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=Liu2021> {{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Z |last2=Yang |first2=SJ |last3=Wang |first3=YY |last4=Peng |first4=YQ |last5=Chen |first5=HY |last6=Luo |first6=SX |title=Tackling the Taxonomic Challenges in the Family Scoliidae (Insecta, Hymenoptera) Using an Integrative Approach: A Case Study from Southern China. |journal=Insects |date=1 October 2021 |volume=12 |issue=10 |page=892 |doi=10.3390/insects12100892 |doi-access=free |pmid=34680660|pmc=8539399 }} </ref>

<ref name=Ciotek2005> {{cite journal | last1 = Ciotek |first1 = Liliana | last2 = Giorgis | first2 = Pablo | last3 = Benitez-Vieyra |first3 = Santiago | last4 = Cocucci | first4 =Andrea A. | year = 2005 | title = First Confirmed Case of Pseudocopulation in Terrestrial Orchids of South America | url = https://www.academia.edu/4040027 | journal = Flora - Morphology, Distribution, Functional Ecology of Plants | volume = 201 | issue = 5 | pages = 365–369 | doi = 10.1016/j.flora.2005.07.012}} </ref>

<ref name=Sarrazin2008> {{Cite journal |last1=Sarrazin |first1=Michaël |last2=Vigneron |first2=Jean Pol |last3=Welch |first3=Victoria |last4=Rassart |first4=Marie |date=2008-11-05 |title=Nanomorphology of the blue iridescent wings of a giant tropical wasp ''Megascolia procer javanensis'' (Hymenoptera) |url=https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.78.051902 |journal=Physical Review E |volume=78 |issue=5 |article-number=051902 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevE.78.051902|pmid=19113150 |arxiv=0710.2692 |bibcode=2008PhRvE..78e1902S |s2cid=30936410}} </ref>

<ref name=Krombein1978> {{cite journal |last1=Krombein |first1= Karl V. |title=Biosystematic Studies of Ceylonese Wasps, II: A Monograph of the Scoliidae (Hymenoptera: Scolioidea) |journal= Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology |date=1978 |issue=283 |pages=6–7 |url= https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/5629/SCtZ-0283-Lo_res.pdf |access-date=24 September 2021}} </ref>

<ref name=Osten2005> {{cite journal | last = Osten |first = T. |date = 2005 | title= Checkliste der Dolchwespen der Welt (Insecta: Hymenoptera, Scoliidae). Teil 1: Proscoliinae und Scoliinae: Campsomerini. Teil 2: Scoliinae: Scoliini. Teil 3: Literatur | trans-title= Checklist of the Scoliidae of the World. Part 1: Proscoliinae and Scoliinae: Campsomerini. Part 2: Scoliinae: Scoliini. Part 3: Literature |language= de |journal= Bericht der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft Augsburg |url=https://www.zobodat.at/pdf/Ber-Naturf-Ges-Augsburg_062_2005_0001-0062.pdf |volume=62 |issue= 220–221 |pages= 1–62|access-date=2014-06-24 }} </ref>

<ref name=WaspWeb> {{cite web |url=https://www.waspweb.org/Scolioidea/Scoliidae/Classification/index.htm |last=van Noort |first=Simon |title=Classification and checklist of Afrotropical mammoth wasps |access-date=2025-04-06}} </ref>

<ref name=Kimsey2022> {{cite bioRxiv |last1=Khouri |first1=Z. |last2=Gillung |first2=J.P. |last3=Kimsey |first3=L.S. |date=2022 |title=The evolutionary history of mammoth wasps (Hymenoptera: Scoliidae) |biorxiv=10.1101/2022.01.24.474473}} </ref>

<ref name=FaunaEuropaea> {{Cite web | url=http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=164920 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305191922/http://www.faunaeur.org/full_results.php?id=164920 | archive-date=March 5, 2016 | title=Fauna Europaea}} </ref>

<ref name=Liu2024> {{cite journal |last1=Liu |first1=Zhen |last2=van Achtergerg |first2=Cornelis |last3=Chen |first3=Huayan |date=2024 |title=Mitochondrial Phylogenomics of Scoliidae from China, with Evidence to Challenge the Former Placement of the ''Colpa'' Group |journal=Insects |volume=15 |issue=10 |page=758 |doi=10.3390/insects15100758 |doi-access=free|pmid=39452335 |pmc=11508514 }} </ref>

<ref name=Rasnitsyn1993> {{cite journal |last1=Rasnitsyn |first1=A. |year=1993 |title=Archaescoliinae, an extinct subfamily of scoliid wasps (Insecta: Vespida = Hymenoptera: Scoliidae) |journal=Journal of Hymenoptera Research |volume=2 |pages=85–96}} </ref>

<ref name=Rasnitsyn1999> {{cite journal |last1=Rasnitsyn |first1=A. |last2=Martínez-Delclòs |first2=X. |year=1999 |title=New Cretaceous Scoliidae (Vespida=Hymenoptera) from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain and Brazil |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=20 |issue=6 |pages=767–772|doi=10.1006/cres.1999.0181 |bibcode=1999CrRes..20..767R }} </ref>

<ref name=Osten2007> {{cite book |last1=Osten |first1=T. |year=2007 |chapter=Hymenoptera: bees, wasps and ants |title=The Crato Fossil Beds of Brazil: Window into an Ancient World |pages=350–365}} </ref>

<ref name=Zhang2004> {{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=J. |year=2004 |title=New representatives of ''Cretoscolia'' (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Scoliidae) from eastern China |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=229–234|doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2003.12.003 |bibcode=2004CrRes..25..229Z }} </ref>

<ref name=Zhang2002> {{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=H. |last2=Rasnitsyn |first2=A. |last3=Zhang |first3=J. |year=2002 |title=The oldest known scoliid wasps (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Scoliidae) from the Jehol biota of western Liaoning, China |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=77–86|doi=10.1006/cres.2001.0302 |bibcode=2002CrRes..23...77H }} </ref>

<ref name=Archibald2018> {{Cite journal|last1=Archibald|first1=S. B. |last2=Rasnitsyn |first2=A. P. |last3=Brothers |first3=D. J.|last4=Mathewes |first4=R. W. |year=2018 |title=Modernisation of the Hymenoptera: ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies of the early Eocene Okanagan Highlands of western North America|journal=The Canadian Entomologist |volume=150 |issue=2 |pages=205–257 |doi=10.4039/tce.2017.59 |s2cid=90017208 |issn=0008-347X}} </ref>

<ref name=Antropov2014> {{cite journal |last1=Antropov |first1=A.V. |last2=Belokobylskij |first2=S.A. |last3=Compton |first3=S.G. |last4=Dlussky |first4=G.M. |last5=Khalaim |first5=A.I. |last6=Kolyada |first6=V.A. |last7=Kozlov |first7=M.A. |last8=Perfilieva |first8=K.S. |last9=Rasnitsyn |first9=A.P. |date=2014 |title=The wasps, bees and ants (Insecta: Vespida=Hymenoptera) from the Insect Limestone (Late Eocene) of the Isle of Wight, UK |journal=Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh |volume=104 |issue= 3–4|pages=335–446 |doi=10.1017/S1755691014000103}} </ref>

<ref name=Evermann1847> {{cite journal |last=Eversmann |first=Eduard |author-link=Eduard Friedrich Eversmann |year=1847 |title=Fauna Hymenopterologica Volgo-Uralensis I |journal=Bulletin de la Société impériale des naturalistes de Moscou |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=3–68 |language=la |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34369479}} (families Tenthredinidae and Uroceratae) and {{cite journal |last=Eversmann |first=Eduard |author-link=Eduard Friedrich Eversmann |year=1849 |title=Fauna Hymenopterologica Volgo-Uralensis II |journal=Bulletin de la Société impériale des naturalistes de Moscou |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=359–436 |language=la |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48927791}}(family Sphegidae) </ref>

<ref name=Nearctica> {{cite journal |last1 = Poole |first1 = R.W. |last2 = Gentili |first2 = P. |title = Hymenoptera |journal = Nomina Insecta: A Check List of the Insects of North America Nearctica |year = 1996 |url = http://www.nearctica.com/nomina/pdfs/volume2/S_ZWASP.pdf |volume = 2 |pages = 309–375 |isbn = 1-889002-02-X |access-date = 2011-10-10 |archive-date = 2012-04-14 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120414191938/http://www.nearctica.com/nomina/pdfs/volume2/S_ZWASP.pdf }} </ref>

<ref name=Ramírez-Guillén2022> {{cite journal |last1=Ramírez-Guillén |first1=Luis Damián |last2=Falcon-Brindis |first2=Armando |last3=Gómez |first3=Benigno |date=2022 |title=The Scoliidae wasps (Hymenoptera: Scolioidea) of Mexico: taxonomy and biogeography |journal=Zootaxa |volume=5214 |issue=1 |pages=47–88 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.5214.1.2|pmid=37044915 |url=http://publication.plazi.org/id/FFE7FFD9FFF0726FFFE29D5BFFB2FFCE }} </ref>

}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Scoliidae}} * [https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN745 Scoliid wasps of Florida.] University of Florida IFAS

Category:Scoliidae Category:Apocrita families Category:Biological pest control wasps Category:Insects used as insect pest control agents Category:Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille