FOR AGES 3 YEARS TO 18 YEARS
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Banded horntails are wasps that are found worldwide but are endemic to California, Washington, and Georgia in the USA. They are also called wood wasps, horntail wasps, and greater horntails. These insects appear to be quite menacing because of their black-colored body with a dark brown exoskeleton. They have six yellow-colored jointed appendages and two yellow antennae. The female wasp is larger than the males and has a long ovipositor at the tip of its abdomen. This ovipositor is sharp and thus, looks similar to that of a stinger. However, unlike other bees and wasps, they do not sting humans at all.
These wood wasps make a loud buzzing sound while flying and infest old woody coniferous trees. The females, after mating, bore through the wood of pine trees and create large holes. They deposit their eggs into these holes before dying. The larvae after hatching feed on the wood of the tree while slowly making their way out of the wood. Oftentimes, these wasps are seen coming out of newly built furniture in homes, and thus, wood wasps are considered pests.
If you liked reading this article, then do check out horntail wasp facts and thread-waisted wasp facts.
The banded horntail is a wasp that belongs to the phylum Arthropoda.
Horntail wasp belongs to the Siricidae family of class Insecta.
Although there is no record of the exact number of species, there are more than 120 different types of wasp in the world.
Wood wasps are found all over America, Canada, and Mexico. They are mostly spotted in large numbers in California, Washington, and Oregon.
The wood wasp prefers woodlands with old woody trees (pine being their choice of tree) and coniferous forests. They tend to bore softwood and also resides in gardens and parks. These wasps are often seen to come out of newly built furniture at home and infest them.
The horntail wasp is solitary in nature and does not reside in groups. However, the adult male wasps are seen to aggregate in clusters during their breeding season and wait for the female wasp to arrive for mating.
The exact lifespan of these wasps is not yet known. However, the larvae can live on an average of three to five years inside trees. The adult females, after laying eggs, can live for only three to four weeks.
The banded horntail (Urocerus gigas) reproduce by laying eggs. They lay about five to seven eggs. The males aggregate in clusters and wait for the female for mating. Once the mating is completed, the females start boring deep holes inside the pine wood. Then they inject these eggs with the help of their ovipositor into these holes along with some fungus. This fungus enables the hardwood inside the hole to become soft so that the larvae can feed on this softwood upon hatching. The larvae slowly feed on this wood from inside the hole and make their way out of the wood after about three to five years.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature, or IUCN, Red List has Not Listed this species of wasps. However, we can assume that their population is not at stake at this moment due to their widespread presence. Pest control by humans can impose a threat to these insects in the household areas.
The wood wasps are similar to other arthropods in their anatomy. They have three parts of their body, the head, thorax, and abdomen. The abdominal tip of female wasps possesses a long stinger like an ovipositor or an egg-laying apparatus. They have a chitinous exoskeleton that is dark brownish in color. Two yellow antennae come out from the front part of their head that helps them to sense, detect and balance. The females are bigger than the males.
Horntails are not considered to be cute (just like a yellow jacket wasp), but rather they appear to be intimidating due to their bright-colored body and a sharp stinger like an ovipositor.
This species of wasps communicate through the chemical messenger called pheromones just like all other arthropods. They tend to warn off the other insects of any impending danger or mark their territory by secreting pheromones. The pheromone is also secreted during their breeding season in order to attract their mates.
The greater horntail is about 0.5-1.6 in (1.3-4 cm) in length and they are bigger in size than the paper wasps (Polistes dominula).
The exact speed with which the wood wasp flies is not known. However, like other bees and wasps, these insects can fly pretty fast with a loud buzzing sound.
The weight of the horntails is not known yet.
No specific names are given to the males or females.
Baby horntails are called larvae after they hatch out of their eggs.
The larvae feed on the softwood in which they hatch. The adults are known to infest old wood and furniture.
Unlike their intimidating looks, these wasps do not sting or bite humans. Instead, they bore large holes into the wood of pine trees and deposit their eggs into them. They are considered pests due to infested furniture.
The horntail wasp is considered a pest because the female adults lay eggs inside the holes of the wood of the old conifer tree. The larvae of these eggs feed on the same wood in which they hatch and slowly make their way out of the wood. Thus, they are often seen to emerge out of the infested wood in the forest as well as in households. Moreover, the sharp stinger like ovipositor and black body with yellow patterns make them look dreadful. So, these wasps are not at all eligible to become pets, just like a common wasp.
The larvae of the banded horntail are preyed upon by the larvae of other insects that hatch within the same tree. Due to this, the females try to drill a large deep hole within the wood of the tree and lay eggs.
Like many other arthropods, these wasps undergo metamorphosis and completes their life cycle in four distinct stages, egg, larva, pupa, and adult wasp. The most prolonged stage is the larval stage which can last as long as five years, while the adults die after laying eggs in four weeks.
A giant wood wasp does not sting or bite humans at all, unlike other bees and wasps.
The horntail wasp completes its life cycle within the wood of the trees and their larva feeds on the wood while making their way out throughout their life span. Hence, the quality of the trees deteriorates and the wood of these trees becomes brittle and useless.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other arthropods from our cabbage white butterfly facts and blue morpho facts pages.
You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable parts of a beetle coloring pages.
Read The Disclaimer
At Kidadl we pride ourselves on offering families original ideas to make the most of time spent together at home or out and about, wherever you are in the world. We strive to recommend the very best things that are suggested by our community and are things we would do ourselves - our aim is to be the trusted friend to parents.
We try our very best, but cannot guarantee perfection. We will always aim to give you accurate information at the date of publication - however, information does change, so it’s important you do your own research, double-check and make the decision that is right for your family.
Kidadl provides inspiration to entertain and educate your children. We recognise that not all activities and ideas are appropriate and suitable for all children and families or in all circumstances. Our recommended activities are based on age but these are a guide. We recommend that these ideas are used as inspiration, that ideas are undertaken with appropriate adult supervision, and that each adult uses their own discretion and knowledge of their children to consider the safety and suitability.
Kidadl cannot accept liability for the execution of these ideas, and parental supervision is advised at all times, as safety is paramount. Anyone using the information provided by Kidadl does so at their own risk and we can not accept liability if things go wrong.
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