Abstract

GENARO, Julio A.. Parasitismo entre especies (Diptera, Hymenoptera) en los nidos de Stictia signata (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). Rev. biol. trop [online]. 1999, vol.47, n.3, pp.535-538. ISSN 0034-7744.

Stictia signata is one of the most frequently observed sand wasps in the Cuban keys and coasts. Females build their nests in the sand and supply them with flies to feed offspring. Here, I describe the behavior of two species, Liohippelates n. sp. near collusor (Diptera: Chloropidae) and Hexacola sp. (Hymenoptera: Eucoilidae), which enter the nests of S. signata. The observations were carried out from 1989 through 1991 in Caimito beach, Southern Havana province, Cuba. Liohippelates inhabited 100% of the nests. Its necrofagous larvae fed on the remnants of prey left by the larva of S. signata, without affecting the larva. Only in one case did the larva show signs of mortality because, apart from the high number of immature cleptoparasites, there were 53 adult flies feeding on prey body fluids. Hexacola sp. parasitized the larvae of Liohippelates within the cells. In spite of high cleptoparasitism, the sphecid population remained high during the observation years.

Keywords : sphecid wasps; prey; parasitoid; Liohippelates n.sp. near collusor; cleptoparasite.