#4090 · 🦗 bugs, crickets & other insects

Veldwespwaaiertje

Xenos vesparum

🦗 Bugs, crickets & other insects 📍 in the Netherlands

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Илья Оголь · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © Pierre Chevillard · CC BY 4.0
3. © Marie Lou Legrand · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Lucyna Bugiera · CC BY-NC 4.0
5. Wageningen, Nederland:© dgcurrywheel · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. 7009 CD Doetinchem, Nederland:© no rights reserved · CC0
7. Achter de Hoven, Gennep, Limburg, NL:© wasdadan · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. 7261 Ruurlo, Nederland:© Benno te Linde · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. Nationaal Park De Loonse En Drunense Duinen, NL-NB-HS, NL-NB, NL:© Paul Cools · CC BY-NC 4.0
10. Groesbeek, Nederland:© Herman Berteler · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

Xenos vesparum is an insect species, whose females are permanent entomophagous endoparasites of Polistes paper wasps. They dwell their entire lifespan in the abdomen of the wasp. One particular species of social wasp it has been known to infect is Polistes gallicus . Younger members of a wasp colony tend to be targeted, although X. vesparum displays parasitic behavior in all stages of this host.

base stats

NL sightings 31iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 772iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 31 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist.
772 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.

fact sheet

Nederlands: Veldwespwaaiertje
scientific name: Xenos vesparum
class: Insecta
order: Strepsiptera
family: Xenidae
sightings in NL: 31
sightings in Europe: 742
sightings worldwide: 772
GBIF records in NL: 683
weight: —
length: —
lifespan: —

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 486031, Wikidata Q8043726, GBIF 4480641, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.