OBSERVATIONS ON THE NESTING-BEHAVIOR OF A MMOPHILA-LAEVICOLLIS ANDRE (HYMENOPTERA, SPHECIDAE)

The nesting behaviour of Ammophila laevicollis Andre, 1886 was studied between May and September 1991 in an aggregation of this species loca ted in a sandy humid region of the province of Valencia (Spain). A. la evicollis is bivoltine and protandrous. Females excavated short and un icellular nests that were mass-provisioned with 1 to 5 hairless caterp illar prey transported in flight or over the ground. There does not se em to exist any direct relationship between the number of prey per cel l and their total weight. ''Prey cleaning'' and ''nest cleaning'' were recorded for the species, and the presence of empty unprovisioned nes ts was observed. The reproductive efficiency obtained was found to be 55%; 25% of the nests dug were not provisioned, and 13% were parasitiz ed by miltogrammine Diptera.