How can you not like a wasp whose life cycle involves killing
cockroaches…slowly? Meet the cockroach wasp, Ampulex
canaliculata. These diminutive wasps were once considered
primitive members of the family Sphecidae, but are now placed in
their own family, the Ampulicidae. There are six genera in the
family, but only Ampulex occurs in North America. Cockroach
wasps have been considered relatively uncommon, but mostly they
are overlooked. A. canaliculata is small, only 10-12 millimeters
or so, and looks much more like an ant than a wasp. Their wings,
which appear too short for their body, are spotted in a pattern
that intensifies their ant mimicry. Indeed, while they can fly,
they are much more likely to be seen running up and down the
trunks of trees in search of their cockroach prey. I found them
to be reasonably abundant in Cincinnati, Ohio, but I looked at
lots of tree trunks. What does the female wasp do when she finds
a cockroach? She uses her mandibles and clypeus (“upper lip”)
like a clamp, grasping the