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Species Sphex lucae

Digger Wasp with prey - Sphex lucae - female Orange Wasp - Sphex lucae Sphecid at Burrow - Sphex lucae - female Spider Wasp - Sphex lucae - female Wasp Digging Nest - Sphex lucae - female Thread-waisted Wasp Body Scan (ventral thorax) - Sphex lucae - female Wasp photographed in Richland, WA  - Sphex lucae - female Sphex? - Sphex lucae - female
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 Sphecidae (Thread-waisted Wasps)
Subfamily Sphecinae
Tribe Sphecini
Genus Sphex
Species lucae (Sphex lucae)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Sphex belfragei Cresson, 1873
Explanation of Names
Sphex (Fernaldina) lucae Saussure, 1867
Identification
Distinguished from species in the subgenus Sphex (Spex) by the absence of a stigmatal groove.(1)

Males are black, including the abdomen. Females have a red abdomen, dark or orange wings and foretarsal-rake spines
Range
western half of the US; Mexico; one record in GA(2)
Food
Females with prey:
Remarks
The only member of the subgenus Fernaldina Bohart & Menke 1963 in our area (2 spp. worldwide). The subgenus is named after Henry Torsey Fernald, a pioneer entomologist.
See Also
Palmodes praestans has long hairs on femora