Sapygid Wasps

All of the known records confirm that members of this family are parasitic in the nests of other aculeate Hymenoptera. The sapygid egg is apparently inserted through the cell closure in the host nest and usually hatches before the host egg. The newly hatched larvae of Sapyga centrata Say, S. louisi Krombein and S. pumila Cresson destroy the host egg and then develop on the pollen stored by the host bee; the larvae of S. confluenta Cresson and of Eusapyga rubripes proxima (Cresson) feed on the host larva after the latter has spun its cocoon. Development to the adult stage appears to be concurrent with that of the host. Sapygids parasitic on vernal bees transform to adults late in the summer, as do the host bees, and overwinter in the cocoons, emerging in the spring.

The Sapygidae are a family of solitary kleptoparasitic aculeate wasps. They are generally black wasps, similar in appearance to some Tiphiidae or Thynnidae, with white or yellow markings developed to various degrees.

The female oviposits her eggs into the nests of solitary bees, and the developing larvae consume both the host larvae and the supply of food provided for them.

The Sapygidae are a small family with only about 80 species described, and they are not of major economic importance. However, some of their host species are important pollinators, and it may sometimes be necessary to control the level of predation on them.

Fossil sapygids have been found in mid-Cretaceous amber in Myanmar and Upper Eocene Baltic amber.

Sapyga centrata

Monosapyga clavicornis