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Definition 2024


cuckoo_wasp

cuckoo wasp

Translingual

Chrysis inaequalis

Alternative forms

  • cuckoo-wasp

Noun

cuckoo wasp (plural cuckoo wasps)

  1. Any of the many wasps of the family Chrysididae, that are kleptoparasites or parasitoids and are often brightly coloured.
    • 1904, Experiment Station Record, Volume 15, page 280,
      In this volume the author presents an account of the ants and cuckoo wasps.
    • 1916, Edward Step, Marvels of Insect Life: A Popular Account of Structure and Habit, page 470,
      In our account of the mason-wasps, we have referred to the destruction of their grubs by the interposition of the ruby-tails or cuckoo-wasps.
    • 1921, Bulletin of the Boston Society of Natural History, Volumes 25-48, page 133,
      Dr. L. H. Taylor determined the cuckoo-wasps (Chrysididae); Dr. H. T. Fernald the Sphecidae; [] .

Synonyms

  • (any species of family Chrysididae): chrysidid