Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Nearctica lists it as pensylvanica, which is wrong because the gender of the genus is male.
synonyms:
Sphex pensylvanica Linnaeus, 1763
Ammobia pensylvanica (Linnaeus)
Chlorion pensylvanicum (Linnaeus)
Sphex pensylvanicus robustisoma Strand, 1916
Size
males average 22 mm; females average 28 mm
Identification
A big blue-black wasp. Frequents flowers. Compare Chalybion?
Range
Throughout the U.S. except the northwest
(1)
Canada: Ontario, Quebec
Season
Summer, esp. July, August. Brimley, p. 444, gives season as July-September in North Carolina
(2)Food
Adults take nectar and/or pollen.
Life Cycle
Provision nests (in burrow in soft earth) with Katydids or grasshoppers. (Univ. Florida lists: Tettigoniidae in genera Microcentrum and Scudderia.) Usually about three are placed in a nest.
Remarks
Appears to be less frequently encountered across its range than
Sphex ichneumoneus (based on U. of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Division of Insects page on
S. pensylvanicus with map of Michigan records.
Print References
Arnett, p. 595, describes
(3)
Evans, pp. 49-51, 55-56 describes life history.
(4)
Salsbury, p. 283--photo
(5)
Bohart, R. M. and A. S. Menke. 1963. A reclassification of the Sphecinae with a revision of the nearctic species of the tribes Sce1iphronini and Sphecini (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Univ. Calif. Publ. Ent. 30: 91-182.
Internet References
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.
Fred Miranda--excellent photo [pic gone - just text; Robin McLeod 19 Jul 2005]
Univ. Florida page giving prey records
Some California records:
Essig Museum of Entomology, Berkeley, CA
Some records mapped at
DiscoverLife
