Nesting Bembix Digger Wasps and Their Fly Parasites
Sand wasps taxonomically grouped under the genus Bembix are solitary, ground-nesting insects with more than 380 species world-wide. Female sand wasps excavate burrows in exposed, sandy soils tunneling into brood chambers where they lay eggs. Following oviposition, females provision the developing larvae with flies they have hunted. These formidable fly hunters, however, can become prey to parasitic flies that exploit the wasps’ nesting behavior. Here, we’ll examine the co-evolutionary dynamics between these wasps and their fly parasites using footage recorded […]
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