Species Tachytes pennsylvanicus

Classification · Size · Identification · Range · See Also · Internet References · Works Cited

Fly or Wasp? - Tachytes pennsylvanicus - male

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 (Apoidea sans Anthophila – Apoid Wasps)

Family Crabronidae (Square-headed Wasps, Sand Wasps, and Allies)

Subfamily Crabroninae (Square-headed Wasps)

Tribe Larrini

Subtribe Gastrosericina

Genus Tachytes

Species pennsylvanicus (Tachytes pennsylvanicus)

Size

♂ smaller (1)

♀ about 15mm (pinned specimens)

Identification

Most members of the pepticus species group are very difficult to identify to species, from an image alone. (both genders)

Some females of the pepticus species group are not identifiable to species, without dissection or DNA verification (1)

Darker eyes than T. sayi on both genders (images of pinned specimens) See the web-links, below.

Hind femora without patches of long hairs on the ventral side

Mandibles dark

Wings clear to slightly darkened

Body all-black in both genders

Legs all-black (with some silvery or golden pubescence)

Abdomen without much silvery pubescence sub-apically

Scutum without much reflective pubescence to almost none

♀ Hind tibia of females has mostly slender spines, pygidial plate coppery to dark coppery overall (not graded with a silvery base) (1)

♂ Apical antennae segments of males are not unusually enlarged, pygidial plate bright silvery (1)

Range

eastern U.S. west to Texas, Nebraska, Montana (1)

may be more widespread in Canada (BOLD Systems, DNA verified specimens)

See Also

All images of males from Texas, in the pepticus group, must be considered tentative, since at least one member of the group was unknown, at the time of the key. (♂ T. cressoni) (1)

Females of T. cressoni have the pygidial plate silvery at the base, grading to light golden apicad. (Texas only) (1)

Internet References

~ BOLDSYSTEMS website page for Tachytes pennsylvanicus - Specimens identified by DNA testing

~ UBC website page for Crabroninae - University of British Colombia, Biodiversity website collection of pinned specimens. (Tachytes pennsylvanicus is near the bottom of the page.)

Works Cited

1.	A key to the genus Tachytes in America north of Mexico with descriptions of three new species (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae, Larrinae) Richard Bohart. 1994. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 96:342-349.

Contributed by Bob Biagi on 18 February, 2017 - 11:24pm
Last updated 22 April, 2017 - 7:04pm

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