Potter wasp

Potter wasps (or mason wasps), the Eumeninae, are a cosmopolitan wasp group considered as a subfamily of Vespidae, but were recognized in the past as a separate family, Eumenidae.

Recognition

Most eumenine species are black or brown, and commonly marked with strikingly contrasting patterns of yellow, white, orange, or red (or combinations thereof), but some species, mostly from tropical regions, show faint to strong blue or green metallic highlights in the background colors. Like most vespids, their wings are folded longitudinally at rest. They are particularly recognized by the following combination of characteristics:

a posterolateral projection known as a parategula on both sides of the mesoscutum;

tarsal claws cleft;

hind coxae with a longitudinal dorsal carina or folding, often developed into a lobe or tooth, and;

fore wings with three submarginal cell.

Biology

Eumenine wasps are diverse in nest building. The different species may either use existing cavities (such as beetle tunnels in wood, abandoned nests of other Hymenoptera, or even man-made holes like old nail holes and screw shafts on electronic devices) that they modify in several degrees, or they construct their own either underground or exposed nests. The nest may have one or several individual brood cells. The most widely used building material is mud made of a mixture of soil and regurgitated water, but many species instead use chewed plant material.

The name "potter wasp" derives from the shape of the mud nests built by species of Eumenes and similar genera. The female wasp scrapes up mud or dirt with her mandibles and front legs, combining it with water and saliva to form a mud ball she transports back to add to her nest under construction.