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Sticker of Mexican grass-carrying wasp
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Mexican grass-carrying wasp

Isodontia mexicana

The Mexican grass-carrying wasp is an all-black wasp with a hairy chest and smoky brown wings. It got its name because it carries bits of grass to line its nest. It builds its home inside hollow branches and other little holes.

Lives in
North America, and now also parts of Europe such as France, Italy and Spain
Length
1.8 to 2 cm (0.71 to 0.79 in)
Top speed
about 25 km/h (16 mph)
Flying, estimate
What does it eat?
She brings them to the nest as food for her babies.
For real!Photo of Mexican grass-carrying wasp
Picture by pjt56. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Mexican grass-carrying wasp about 2 cm long (0.79 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 3 grains of rice in a rowcould fly across a whole football pitch in 15 secondsmoves 350 times its own body length every second

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cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It often moves into old nests that other insects built.

2

It came to Europe by accident from North America and is slowly spreading there.

3

The females are bigger than the males and come out later in the summer.

4

You can see it from early summer until September.

you asked

Most asked questions about Mexican grass-carrying wasp

?Why is it called grass-carrying wasp?

Because it carries pieces of grass and plant fibres into its nest to line it.

?What does a grass-carrying wasp eat?

The mother hunts small katydids and tree crickets as food for her young.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Isodontia mexicana
Group
Wasps and hornets
Family
Sphecidae
Classification
Insecta > Hymenoptera > Sphecidae
Lives on
North America, Europe

Where the facts come from

  1. Isodontia mexicana (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by pjt56. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

More from the same group: Wasps and hornets

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