Chrysididae Cuckoo Wasp

Alice Springs Desert Park

ASDP WaspsBembicinae and Bembix Chrysididae Cuckoo Wasp Potter Wasp Delta latreillei (Potter Wasp) Delta philantes Radumeris radula (Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp) Torymus Chalcid Wasp

The Cuckoo Wasps (in the family Chrysididae) are small to medium sized wasps ranging from 2 to 22 mm in body length. They have stout bodies, and are a striking metallic green in colour, although there are purple and copper coloured species (also found in Australia). The bodies of cuckoo wasps are heavily sclerotised with some visible segments. The adult cuckoo wasps do not sting,

The adult Cuckoo Wasps feed on flower nectar. They can be seen hovering over vegetation, dead tree trunks and around old timber buildings. The Cuckoo Wasp pictured here in Alice Springs, was checking out the steel framework of the doorway.

The Cuckoo Wasps search for suitable nesting sites, where on finding another wasp nest (such as the nest of a Mud-dauber Wasp), will lay an egg in the nest containing the egg of another wasp species (the host species). The Cuckoo Wasp’s egg will usually hatch first and the larva will eat the host egg and food that is stored there. The larvae then spin a cocoon within the hosts own cell, to then emerge as the adult Cuckoo Wasp. The larvae of the Cuckoo Wasps are external parasites of other wasp species, such as Vespoidea and Sphecoidea.