Pelecinus polyturator occurs throughout the Americas from eastern Canada and the United States to northern Argentina. It inhabits deciduous and tropical forests, woodlands, fields and gardens. These are large wasps with black glossy bodies; females are larger (50-62 mm), with very long abdomens; males 12-25 mm. Hindwings of both sexes very short. American Pelecinid Wasps are parasitoids of insect larvae that feed on decomposing wood, mainly May and June Beetles (Phyllophaga spp., Scarabaeidae), and perhaps also wood-boring insects. Female thrusts its long abdomen and ovipositor into soil and lays an egg on host larva. The wasp larva hatches, consumes the host, and then pupates. Adult wasps attend flowers and feed on nectar. In North America, P. polyturator is active from July through October. In the north of the range, females are common, but males are rarely seen, and some populations may be parthenogenetic.

		D69730 American Pelecinid Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator), female Murphys Point Provincial Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D69734 American Pelecinid Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator), female Murphys Point Provincial Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D69729 American Pelecinid Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator), female Murphys Point Provincial Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
		D69728 American Pelecinid Wasp (Pelecinus polyturator), female Murphys Point Provincial Park Ontario, Canada Copyright © Michael Patrikeev All Rights Reserved
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