Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Genus Cerceris

wasp - Cerceris clypeata - male Wasps attempting to mate - Cerceris - male - female A Cerceris? - Cerceris Apoid Wasp - Cerceris Crabronidae wasp family, Possibly genus Cerceris ? - Cerceris unknown bee mimic - Cerceris Id help needed - bee - Cerceris clypeata - male Wasp - Cerceris
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoid Wasps (Apoidea)- traditional Sphecidae)
Family Crabronidae
Subfamily Philanthinae
Tribe Cercerini
Genus Cerceris
Other Common Names
Weevil wasps
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Cerceris Latreille 1803
Numbers
86 spp. in our area (of which ~30 reach Canada)(1), 29 in e. US(2), almost 900 worldwide(3)
Identification
Abdominal segments are constricted at the margins.
The faces of females are modified with unusual projections on the clypeus and clypeal margin.
Range
worldwide(3)
Habitat
Females excavate cavities in soil as nests.
Food
Most Cerceris species prey on adult beetles, but some also prey on bees and wasps. At least one species, C. halone, preys exclusively on acorn weevils (Curculio nasicus).
Print References
(4)