On a Nest Record for the Solitary Wasp Brachyodynerus zhelochovtzevi (Kostylev, 1929) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae: Eumeninae) in Uzbekistan

Abstract

Nesting of a Brachyodynerus zhelochovtzevi (Kostylev, 1929) female was observed with timekeeping of its activity. The nest was located in the vertical wall of a crack in sandy-loam soil, in a flat spot with halophytic vegetation. The nest entrance was situated at a depth of about 1 cm from the soil surface and was a simple round opening, without an entrance turret. The nest tunnel was about 3 cm long and inclined downwards at about 45°. During the sealing of the cells and the whole nest, the female left the soil crack only to collect liquid for softening the soil; it obtained the liquid from succulent leaves of a plant of the genus Suaeda Forssk. ex J.F. Gmel. (Chenopodiaceae). The completed and sealed nest contained three brood cells, arranged in a row and sealed with soil partitions, and an empty vestibule sealed with a thicker final plug. The egg was attached with a thread to the lateral wall of the cell at its distal end. The female wasp hunted larvae of a single casebearer moth species of the genus Aporiptura Falkovitsh, 1972 (Coleophoridae), feeding on another species of Suaeda; 10–18 such larvae were stored in each brood cell. Adult wasps fed on nectar on the flowers of Limonium otolepis (Schrenk) Kuntze (Plumbaginaceae), Tamarix ramosissima Ledeb. (Tamaricaceae), and Lepidium obtusum Basiner (Brassicaceae). The biology of B. zhelochovtzevi is discussed and compared with that of B. magnificus (Morawitz, 1867) and members of other ground-nesting genera of Eumeninae.