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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 » Great Black Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus)

Species Sphex pensylvanicus - Great Black Wasp

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Big Black Wasp ID Request - Sphex pensylvanicus - male

Great Black Wasp? - Sphex pensylvanicus - female

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 pensylvanicus (Great Black Wasp)

Other Common Names

Katydid Hunter

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Nearctica lists it as pensylvanica, which is wrong because the gender of the genus is male.

Size

25 mm

Identification

A big blue-black wasp. Frequents flowers. Compare Chalybion?

Range

Eastern and central North America.

Habitat

Meadows, fields, etc.

Season

Summer, esp. July, August. Brimley, p. 444, gives season as July-September in North Carolina (1)

Food

Adults take nectar and/or pollen.

Life Cycle

Provision nests (in burrow in soft earth) with Katydids or grasshoppters. (Univ. Florida lists: Tettigoniidae in genera Microcentrum and Scudderia.) Usually about three are placed in a nest.

Remarks

Males are smaller than females.

There are few printed references on this species, and I can find no published illustrations.

Print References

Brimley, p. 444 (1)

Arnett, p. 595, describes (2)

Evans, pp. 49-51, 55-56 describes life history. (3)

Salsbury, p. 283--photo (4)

Internet References

Oklahoma Wild Things

Insects of Cedar Creek--they label as "Sphex species", but mention "S. pennsylvanicus" on the Sphecidae family page. Phenology lists occurence in July and August.

Clemson University

Fred Miranda--excellent photo [pic gone - just text; Robin McLeod 19 Jul 2005]

Univ. Florida page giving prey records

Works Cited

1.	Insects of North Carolina By C.S. Brimley

2.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico By Ross H. Arnett

3.	Wasp Farm By Howard Ensign Evans

4.	Insects in Kansas By Glenn A. Salsbury and Stephan C. White

Contributed by Cotinis on 6 August, 2004 - 6:17am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Matthias Buck
Last updated 8 September, 2007 - 6:19pm

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