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Euparagiinae

The Euparagiinae are a small subfamily of rare wasps in the family Vespidae containing a single extant genus Euparagia. The group had a cosmopolitan distribution in past geological times extending back to the Early Cretaceous, but is now a geographically relict taxon known only from the desert regions of the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.

This subfamily, with this same rank, has been previously grouped with the pollen wasps and treated together as the family "Masaridae". Now, the Euparagiinae are considered an independent subfamily and the sister group of the remainder of the Vespidae. Their wing venation is unique and differs from all other Vespidae; they also characteristically have a single small pale spot at the posterior edge of the mesonotum, and the femora and trochanters of the male front legs are modified in species-specific shapes.

The biology of only one species (Euparagia scutellaris) is known, and the females provision nests in the soil with weevil larvae.

Taxonomy

References