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Australian Wildlife

  Native Flower Wasp (Thynnus zonatus)





Native Flower Wasp | Thynnus zonatus photo
Female Native Flower wasp, Thynnus zonatus. Tasmania

Image by KeresH - Some rights reserved.    (view image details)







NATIVE FLOWER WASP FACTS

Identification
Thynnus zonatus is an Australian native flower wasp. The wingless female is black with bright yellow marking in bands on the abdomen. The males are smaller and have wings. They are parasitic wasps laying eggs on beetle larvae. They are sometimes confused with the introduced European or English Wasps, but Flower Wasps are not a pest species and are not aggressive to humans.

Size
length: females about 15mm

Habitat
coastal areas

Food
Adults feed on nectar.

Breeding
Flower wasps are parasitic wasps and lay their eggs on scarab beetle larvae. The female wasp burrows for beetle larvae, laying a single egg on a beetle grub. When the egg hatches, the wasp larva feeds on the grub.

Range
Tasmania, other states ??



Classification
Class:Insecta
Order:Hymenoptera
Family:Tiphiidae
Genus:Thynnus
Species:zonatus
Common Name:Native Flower Wasp