Ancistrocerus antilope

Ancistrocerus antilope
Photographed in Ottawa, Canada in 2019
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Vespidae
Genus:	Ancistrocerus
Species:	A. antilope
Binomial name
Ancistrocerus antilope Panzer 1798[1]

Ancistrocerus antilope is a species of wasp of the family Vespidae.^[1][2]

Description

This species is similar to the rarer A. spinolae, with differences including a shining, impunctate propodeum and a pair of yellow spots on the female's scutellum.^[3]

Range

Ancistrocerus antilope is present in all Canadian provinces and all continental U.S. states except Alaska, Alabama, and Florida, as well as Europe to Siberia.^[4]

Ecology

A. antilope is known to nest in hollow twigs, similar to many Megachilid bees, and the parasite Leucospis affinis has been found in the nests of A. antilope. Whether the parasites can successfully complete their life cycle using the wasp as a host in unknown.^[5]

References

1. "Taxonomy browser (Ancistrocerus antilope)". www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
2. "Catalogue of Life : Ancistrocerus antilope (Panzer, 1789)". www.catalogueoflife.org. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
3. "Key to northeastern Nearctic Ancistrocerus species". cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
4. "Ancistrocerus antilope". cjai.biologicalsurvey.ca. Retrieved 2019-12-08.
5. Cowan, David (3 November 2017). "Parasitism of Ancistrocerus Antilope (Hymenoptera: Eumenidae) by Leucospis Affinis (Hymenoptera: Leucospididae)". The Great Lakes Entomologist. 19 (3). doi:10.22543/0090-0222.1575. ISSN 0090-0222. Retrieved 22 November 2022.