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Calendar
BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
 
Photos from the gathering
 
Photos from the 2007 gathering in Minnesota

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Species Sphex ichneumoneus - Great Golden Digger 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 Sphecidae (Thread-waisted Wasps)
Genus Sphex
Species ichneumoneus (Great Golden Digger Wasp)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Nearctica.com lists the name as Sphex ichneumonea.
Size
15-27 mm
Identification
A robust sphecid, frequent on flowers and very active. Head and thorax have golden hair. Abdomen black with orange/red on first segment.
Range
United States and southern Canada, south into neotropics
Habitat
Fields, meadows, with sandy areas nearby
Season
June-October (North Carolina), August-October (Kansas), July-August further north.
Food
Takes nectar at flowers.
Life Cycle
Female digs burrow almost vertically. Cells are dug radiating out from central tunnel. Larvae are provisioned with crickets, camel crickets, katydids (long-horned grasshoppers). One paralyzed prey is placed in each cell, and one egg is laid on it. One generation per year.
Print References
Brimley, p. 444 (2)
Milne, p. 845, fig. 456 (3)
Arnett, p. 595 (4)
Arnett and Jacques, #289 (5)
Powell, p. 341, fig. 442 (6)
Salsbury, p. 283--photo (7)
Lutz, 3rd. ed., plate 99--Chlorion ichneumonea (8)
Evans, discusses life history briefly, gives bibliography, p. 56, photo with prey, plate 5 (1)
Works Cited
1.Wasp Farm
By Howard Ensign Evans
2.Insects of North Carolina
By C.S. Brimley
3.National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders
By Lorus and Margery Milne
4.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
By Ross H. Arnett
5.Simon & Schuster's Guide to Insects
By Dr. Ross H. Arnett, Dr. Richard L. Jacques
6.California Insects
By Jerry A. Powell, Charles L. Hogue
7.Insects in Kansas
By Glenn A. Salsbury and Stephan C. White
8.Field Book of Insects of the United States and Canada, Aiming to Answer Common Questions,
By Frank Eugene Lutz

Online Video of S. ichneumoneus at:
http://www.rkwalton.com/wasps/wasps.html

References on Sphex ichneumoneus
See guide...

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