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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and Stinging Wasps » Apoid Wasps (Apoidea)- traditional Sphecidae » Thread-waisted Wasps (Sphecidae) » Sphecinae » Sphecini » Sphex

Genus Sphex

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Works Cited
Katydid Wasp - Sphex nudus - male Sphex ichneumoneus - female Huge black wasp - Sphex pensylvanicus Fly? - Sphex pensylvanicus Great Golden Digger Wasp - Sphex ichneumoneus Great Black Wasp - Sphex pensylvanicus - female large black wasp - Sphex pensylvanicus wasp - Sphex ichneumoneus - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and Stinging Wasps)
No Taxon (Apoid Wasps (Apoidea)- traditional Sphecidae)
Family Sphecidae (Thread-waisted Wasps)
Subfamily Sphecinae
Tribe Sphecini
Genus Sphex
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Sphex Linnaeus, 1758
Although the name is masculine, Linnaeus treated it as feminine, and many other authors followed. When searching for a Sphex species name, it's best to try both masculine and feminine endings.
Explanation of Names
Greek sphex (σφηξ), the ancient name of a kind of wasp.
Numbers
12 spp. in 2 subgenera (Fernaldia with just 1 sp.) in our area(1), ~120 spp. worldwide(2); 9 spp. in e. US(3)
Size
Up to 28 mm
Range
worldwide and throughout NA(4)
Food
Adults take nectar.
Life Cycle
Prey on katydids, Tettigoniidae, utilizing one species per wasp species. Nest is built in ground, somewhat gregarious.
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
By Ross H. Arnett
2.Catalog of Sphecidae sensu lato
3.Eastern Sphecid Wasps, by Herschel Raney
4.Apoidea (Bees; Sphecoid wasps) on discoverlife.org
Contributed by Cotinis on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Chuck Entz, v belov
Last updated 29 October, 2010 - 1:23pm

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