Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
formerly treated as several subfamilies of
Sphecidae; raised to family status by Prentice (1998) and Melo (1999) - see PDF doc by Pulawski in Internet References section below
includes subfamilies Astatinae, Bembicinae, Crabroninae, Pemphredoninae, Philanthinae, and encompasses the former Sphecid subfamilies Larrinae and Nyssoninae
Numbers
8,636 species in the world in 200 genera.
Food
larvae feed on prey captured and brought to the nest by adult wasps; the type of prey varies according to species of wasp, but includes aphids, bees, beetles, bugs, butterflies & moths, cicadas, cockroaches, crickets, flies, grasshoppers, hoppers, mantids, and spiders
a few species are kleptoparasitic, providing their larvae with prey that was captured by other species of wasps
Life Cycle
nest-sharing occurs in some subfamilies, especially Pemphredoninae and Philanthinae
Internet References
classification; PDF doc of superfamily Apoidea (Wojciech Pulawski, 2006, California Academy of Sciences)
number of species worldwide (California Academy of Sciences)
nesting habits and prey of numerous species of Crabronidae and Sphecidae occurring in Florida (Charles Porter, U. of Florida)
![Wasp [Cerceris?] ID Request - Cerceris](http://bugguide.net/images/cache/KRJZ7R3Z4RULKZVLQZDLQZBLQZCLHZULMRFZJL2LJLTZIRCZIR6LZZWLRZPLJLCZMROZFLULSRJZPRDLRZYZ7REL3L.jpg "Wasp [Cerceris?] ID Request - Cerceris")
