Prey-paralysis

Guides

• Cerceris occipitomaculata

  Cerceris occipitomaculata is a solitary ground-nesting wasp in the family Crabronidae. Like other members of the genus Cerceris, it is a specialist predator that captures and paralyzes prey to provision underground nests for its offspring. The species is distributed across North America and Middle America. As with congeners, it likely exhibits prey specialization, though specific prey records for this species are not well documented in the available sources.

  solitary-waspground-nestingspecialist-predatorphilanthineCrabronidaeCercerisNorth-AmericaMiddle-Americasand-soilnest-provisioningprey-paralysisbiosurveillance-potential

• Crabronidae

  Square-headed Wasps, Sand Wasps, Digger Wasps

  Crabronidae is a large family of solitary wasps within the superfamily Apoidea, containing over 200 genera and more than 9,000 species. Formerly treated as a subfamily of Sphecidae, it was elevated to family status following taxonomic revision. The family is now recognized as paraphyletic, with bees (Anthophila) and Sphecidae having arisen from within it. Members are commonly known as square-headed wasps, sand wasps, and digger wasps.

  solitary-waspspredatory-waspsparasitoid-waspsdigger-waspssand-waspssquare-headed-waspsprogressive-provisioningnest-guardingprey-paralysis