We were hiking along the 2,500 foot long Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk when we came across this Slosson’s mason wasp
This spectacular pollinator photo was taken when I was on a hike with Matt in the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. This park sits right next to the Everglades National Park. The Fakahatchee Strand is the largest state park in Florida. The preserve covers more than 85,000 acres, and it has been called the Amazon of North America. We were hiking along the 2,500 foot long Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk when we came across this Slosson’s mason wasp.
The Slosson’s mason wasp has a very distinct body shape and color that matches its unique habitat. It can be identified by a combination of a black thorax, its narrow and then bulbous abdomen that is maroon in color, and its maroon to black colored wings. The wings of this wasp are quite long and slender. Its scientific name is Zethus slossonae. The Slosson’s mason wasp is native to the southern half of Florida.
The Zethus genus is a large genus of potter wasps. They are mostly found in neotropical areas. The neotropics are one of the Earth’s eight biogeographic realms that contains the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
Potter wasps, also known as mason wasps are a subfamily of the Vespidae family. The scientific name for potter wasps is Eumenine. They are cosmopolitan wasps that are black and brown in color and commonly marked with contrasting colors such as white, yellow, orange, or red (as we see in the Slosson’s mason wasp). The potter wasps get their name from the pot shaped nests that they build for their larvae. The female potter wasps build these nests on rocks or tree trunks.
The potter wasps get their name from the pot shaped nests that they build for their larvae
Did you know?
- There are more than 3,000 potter wasp species worldwide and more than 270 species in the United States. This is more than 60% of all wasp species.
- The potter wasp nests are made of soil and water or chewed plant material.
- Slosson’s wasps are predators, which is true for all wasps in the potter wasp subfamily.
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