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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Apoid Wasps (Apoidea)- traditional Sphecidae » Thread-waisted Wasps (Sphecidae) » Sphex » Sphex (Fernaldina) lucae (Sphex lucae)
Photo#318527
i want to know - Sphex lucae
Copyright © 2009 shotguneddie

i want to know - Sphex lucae
Wolf Creek, Josephine County, Oregon, USA
August 9, 2009
Size: around an inch
who these guys are..they seem to live by and on a new pond i had put in which is mostly dry..seasonal pond..and they are nectaring on mint on the banks..normally i dont pay much attention to wasps as long as they dont bother me, but these are real pretty and ive never seen them before. do they live together, in a nest or are they solitary wasps? there at least 30 of them feeding there. from the mouth parts they look like they go after something besides flowers. sorry for the cruddy shot of the head i kept trying to get a whole one but they are quick.

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i want to know - Sphex lucae i want to know - Sphex lucae
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Contributed by shotguneddie on 10 August, 2009 - 11:29pm
Last updated 11 August, 2009 - 9:50am

Moved
Moved from Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies.
… Eric R. Eaton, 11 August, 2009 - 9:50am login or register to post comments

Square-headed wasp, I'm pretty sure.
Tribe Larrini, like mine:

And I had the same problem trying to get the head in focus.

I don't know anything about these, but many wasps are hunters. I've never had any problems with following them around, but I'm still cautious with yellow jackets.
… Ron Hemberger, 11 August, 2009 - 2:24am login or register to post comments

 
No it is not.
The image here is of a female Sphex lucae. They are also solitary, though may nest in small aggregations, each female with her own burrow, in suitable soil type.
… Eric R. Eaton, 11 August, 2009 - 9:49am login or register to post comments

 
they must be nesting on the f
they must be nesting on the face of this little dam?
… shotguneddie, 11 August, 2009 - 10:51am login or register to post comments

 
yep thats it.. and yep i am
yep thats it..
and yep i am more than cautious of yellowjackets. one of my fondest childhood memories is the pain of 39 stings.
… shotguneddie, 11 August, 2009 - 2:28am login or register to post comments

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