Insects at Olive Pink Botanic GardenAustraliphthiria (Bee Fly) Ground Shield Bug (Choerocoris paganus) Laced Day-Moth (Ipanica cornigera) Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris tasmaniensis)
— see Olive Pink Botanic Garden | Birds | Insects | Spiders ◦
Olive Pink Botanic Garden
The Orange Spider Wasp (Cryptocheilus bicolor) is an active spider wasp, with bright orange and black colours. This one was spotted in the Olive Pink Botanic Garden.
Cryptocheilus bicolor is a large, coloured spider wasp from the family Pompilidae.
Cryptocheilus bicolor is also commonly known as the Orange Spider Wasp or Spider Hunting Wasp. The female of the species, is up to 35 mm in length and as the other common name of Spider Hunting Wasp implies, seeks out spiders for her nesting chambers.
A solitary species, that can be seen feeding on nectar. The nesting chambers are usually a burrow in the ground, on tree trunks or made out of mud. They can on occasion be seen in the act dragging their paralyse spiders (that they have stung) back to their nest chambers. They then lay an egg on the spider’s body. The larva will hatch and feed internally on the spider’s bodily fluids.
See more information and images here:
- Orange Spider Wasp in Alice Springs
- Finke Gorge National Park Orange Spider Wasp
- Cryptocheilus bicolor
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthopoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Subclass: Pterygota
- Order: Hymenoptera
- Suborder: Apocrita
- Infraorder: Aculeata
- Superfamily: Pompiloidea
- Family: Pompilidae
- Subfamily: Pepsinae
- Tribe: Pepsini
- Genus: Cryptocheilus
- Species: Cryptocheilus bicolor
Footnote & References
- Orange Spider Wasp Cryptocheilus bicolor), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/198790-Cryptocheilus-bicolor
- Cryptocheilus bicolor (Fabricius, 1775), Spider Hunting Wasp, Museums Victoria Collections, https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/species/8608
- Spider wasp, NSW Department of Primary Industries, https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity/plant/bees-and-wasps/spider-wasp
Insects at Olive Pink Botanic GardenAustraliphthiria (Bee Fly) Ground Shield Bug (Choerocoris paganus) Laced Day-Moth (Ipanica cornigera) Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris tasmaniensis)