Mellinus arvensis explained

Mellinus arvensis, the field digger wasp, is a species of solitary wasp. The wasp can commonly be found from July to late September or October in sandy places. In hard soil however the female will often try to steal a nest from another member of the same species. The female is larger than the male.^[1] The wasps' nests are underground in sandy burrows with flies for their offspring to eat. The species is yellow and black like many wasp species, but they have a more narrow waist.^[2] This species is the most dominant immediately following forest fires.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Book: Multiple authors . The Oxford Book of Insects . Oxford University Press . 1979 . Oxford, South East England . 156 . 0-19-910005-5 . registration .
2. Web site: Field Digger Wasp . 2009-11-13 . Wild About Britain . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716111538/http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/field-digger-wasp . 2011-07-16 .
3. Bogusch . Petr . Blažej . Lukáš . Trýzna . Miloš . Heneberg . Petr . Forgotten role of fires in Central European forests: critical importance of early post-fire successional stages for bees and wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) . European Journal of Forest Research . 1 January 2015 . 134 . 1 . 153–166 . 10.1007/s10342-014-0840-4 . 254190403 . 2 December 2022 . en . 1612-4677.