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Subfamily Bembicinae

Wasp - Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus What type of wasp is this? - Sphecius speciosus wasp - Zanysson Crabronidae - Zanysson Western Cicada Killer - Sphecius grandis - male 8007641 - Alysson Sand Wasp - Steniolia Wasp
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoid Wasps (Apoidea)- traditional Sphecidae)
Family Crabronidae
Subfamily Bembicinae
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
formerly subfamily Nyssoninae in family Sphecidae; renamed Bembicinae and transferred to family Crabronidae - see PDF doc by Pulawski in Internet References section below
includes 3 tribes (Alyssontini, Bembicini, Nyssonini) and several subtribes within Bembicini
Numbers
1,708 species in the world
Identification
Nearly all these wasps have the mesonotum expanded laterally into laminae that more or less overlie the bases of the tegulae, and the jugal lobe of the hind wing is shorter than the submedian cell; all except Bembecini have two apical spurs on the middle tibiae. FW with three submarginal cells.
Food
Most species prey on Homoptera but several species are kleptoparasitic on other Bembicinae.
Life Cycle
All species are ground-nesters.
Remarks
The older classification is shown at Insects of Cedar Creek; it used the name Nyssoninae and recognized 6 tribes.
Print References
Borror & White, p. 352 (1)
(2)p.688.
Internet References
classification; PDF doc of superfamily Apoidea (Wojciech Pulawski, 2006, California Academy of Sciences)
number of species worldwide (California Academy of Sciences)
California Bembicine Sand Wasps U.C. Berkeley, PDF document.
Works Cited
1.A Field Guide to Insects
By Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson
2.Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects
By Norman F. Johnson, Charles A. Triplehorn