Leucospis affinis

Distribution

North America, Asia

Behavior

Female L. affinis lay their eggs inside the nests of mason bees, where their larvae will grow by consuming the mason bee larvae.

Reproduction

L. affinis' ovipositor has an especially strange anatomy, as it is curved backwards over the female's body when not in use. To use the full length of her ovipositor, the female will have to lever it against a membrane between two of her abdominal segments, folding her abdomen almost at 90 degrees. This allows her to position her ovipositor perpendicularly to the outside of the mason bee nest, despite the fact that the ovipositor is much taller than she is.
The whole event can take upwards of ten minutes, as the female L. affinis must drill through up to 7mm of wood to reach the mason bee larva. once she finds the larva, she will lay her egg on the wall of the nest. The larvae will hatch about three days later and crawl to the mason bee, which it will feed on for 2.5 weeks., before forming a pupa. The adult will emerge from the pupa two weeks later.