Megalara

Megalara garuda
Male
Female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Suborder:	Apocrita
Superfamily:	Apoidea
Family:	Crabronidae
Subfamily:	Crabroninae
Tribe:	Larrini
Genus:	Megalara
Species:	M. garuda
Binomial name
Megalara garuda Rosichon,Kimsey,& Ohl

Megalara garuda, colloquially referred to as the "king of wasps",^[1] is a large wasp and only species in the genus Megalara, family Crabronidae, tribe Larrini.^[2] It was discovered in 2011 on the Mekongga Mountains in the southeastern part of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi by Rosichon Ubaidillah from the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology at the University of California, Davis.^[2] It was simultaneously discovered by Michael Ohl,^[3] curator and head of entomology at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, in museum collections.

In March 2012, a first detailed description was published.^[4] The species is named after Garuda,^[2] the national symbol of Indonesia, a giant bird-like creature.

Males are about 3.3 cm (1.3 in) long, with very large jaws.^[4] Their elongated mandibles are almost as long as their forelegs.^[5] Females are smaller but still larger than other species in the sub-family.^[4] Both sexes are shiny black with black wings. It is a solitary predator of other insect species.^[2]

References

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