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Genus Philanthus - Beewolves

Philanthus? - Philanthus gibbosus - female Wasp ID please.. - Philanthus ventilabris Philanthus gibbosus? - Philanthus gibbosus black & yellow wasp? - Philanthus ventilabris - male Philanthus sp. - Philanthus Philanthus ventilabris Humped Beewolf? - Philanthus gibbosus Possibly something in Philanthinae?  - Philanthus gibbosus
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 Philanthinae
Tribe Philanthini
Genus Philanthus (Beewolves)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
our fauna reviewed in (1)
Explanation of Names
Philanthus Fabricius 1790
Greek 'lover of flowers'
the common name "beewolf" refers to the habit of preying on bees
Numbers
32 spp. in our area(2), ~140 total(3)
Size
12-18 mm(4)
Habitat
Females excavate cavities in soil to use as nests.
Hunting sites include flowers, natural bee nests and apiaries.
Food
Adults feed on nectar, but larvae feed on bees provided by mother at time of egg-laying. Many species prey especially on sweat bees (family Halictidae), but at least one European species favors honeybees (Apis mellifera). (5)
Life Cycle
Provisions with bees or wasps(?), often Halictids (6).
Remarks
The common "European" Beewolf is widespread in tropical to warm temperates regions of Eurasia and Africa.
While it does favor Honeybee (Apis mellifera) workers as preys, it sometimes takes mainly large-sized Halictus females where Honeybees are scarce. Indeed, presence of suitable soils (neither too sandy nor too clayish) in order to dig its long burrows seems more important than abundant Honeybees populations.
Another important factor is a warm, dry summer in the Northern limits of its range, like in my own Geneva region. There, it was much commoner during the late eighties and the nineties than nowadays; summer of 2001 was its last "good year" and it is now quite scarce. On the other hand, bee-keepers have many other things to worry and would certainly prefer numerous beewolves combined wiht colonies in good condition rather than the reverse. --Comment by Richard Vernier
Female beewolves cultivate bacteria in their antenna bases and apply to brood cells. These bacteria keep out potentially harmful bacteria. (Kroiss et al. 2010)
Print References
(7)
Internet References