Hogweed Fly Fox

This Ectemnius wasp was photographed in the cemetery in early July 2025.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Ectemnius lituratus
Family: 
Sand wasps
Family Latin name: 
CRABRONIDAE
Category: 
Insects other

Species description

Species description

When this wasp was first seen in the Cemetery in late July 2023, the county recorder thought that there was a possibility that it might be an Ectemnius lituratus. When something similar showed up again in early July 2025, and clearer photographs were taken, that identification was confirmed.

The entomologist Steven Falk calls this the Hogweed Fly Fox—an appropriate name given that all our photographs of it were taken when it was indeed on a Hogweed.

The Crabonidae wasp family in Britain is extensive. The BWARS website lists 10 species; Steven Falk's Flickr gallery lists over 65. Even so, the pattern of markings on this individual allows identification to be made. The differences are sometimes subtle: the pattern of yellow and black abdominal banding, the pair of yellow stripes on the front of the thorax, the yellow scape (base) of the antennae, the yellow stripe along the rear of the thorax, and the pattern of black or yellow markings on the legs (black femurs and yellow tibias).

Most records for this wasp are in the south-east of England. It favours woodlands and is encountered around dead wood and umbellifers (such as Hogweed). It seizes small flies to stock its nests cells; these are created in tree stumps and fence posts.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)
This Ectemnius wasp was photographed in the cemetery in late July 2023.
This Ectemnius wasp was photographed in the cemetery in late July 2023.
This Ectemnius literatus wasp was photographed in the cemetery in early July 2025.
This Ectemnius literatus wasp was photographed in the cemetery in early July 2025.
This Ectemnius literatus wasp was photographed in the cemetery in early July 2025.
This Ectemnius literatus wasp was photographed in the cemetery in early July 2025.

Details

Species family information

Sand wasps are a tribe of the Crabronid wasp family. These are small, stout insects, often less than an inch in length. The tribe includes Digger wasps. These wasps are often mistaken for bees because of their yellow and black banding. They are solitary rather than social wasps which do not live in colonies. Although they may cluster together, the females have their own individual nests inside sand burrows.

Category information

Insects evolved in the Ordovician from a crustacean ancestral lineage as terrestrial invertebrates with six legs (the Hexapoda). This was the time when terrestrial plants first appeared. In the Devonian some insects developed wings and flight, the first animals to do so. An early flying group was the Odonata from the Carboniferous, the damselflies and dragonflies, which have densely-veined wings and long, ten-segmented bodies. They are day-flying carnivores, with an aquatic larval stage, so are commonly seen flying near water. The carnivorous larvae are called nymphs. Odonata species are short-lived, damselflies surviving for 2-4 weeks, dragonflies for up to 2 months.

Some insect groups in the Cretaceous co-evolved with the flowering plants, and they have had a close association ever since. These groups are the Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants), the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), the Diptera (flies), and the Coleoptera (beetles). The diversity of beetles is astonishing. Of all the known animal species on the planet, one in five is a beetle!