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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea sans Anthophila – Apoid Wasps » Square-headed Wasps, Sand Wasps, and Allies (Crabronidae) » Crabroninae » Larrini » Gastrosericina » Tachytes » distinctus-group (Tachytes distinctus-group) » Tachytes distinctus

Species Tachytes distinctus

Representative Images

which wasp ? - Tachytes distinctus - female 8007960 - Tachytes distinctus - female Family Crabronidae-ID please - Tachytes distinctus - male wasp on erigonum - Tachytes distinctus - male Which Tachytes? - Tachytes distinctus - male Tachytes? - Tachytes distinctus - male Tachytes distinctus? - Tachytes distinctus - male Bee species? - Tachytes distinctus - male

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 Crabroninae
Tribe Larrini
Subtribe Gastrosericina
Genus Tachytes
No Taxon (distinctus-group)
Species distinctus (Tachytes distinctus)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Tachytes distinctus Smith 1856
Tachytes distinctus bimini Krombein, 1953
Tachytes yucatanensis Banks, 1942
Tachytes fulvipes W. Fox, 1892
Tachytes elongatus Cameron, 1889
Tachytes contractus Cresson, 1873
Tachytes austrinus (F. Smith, 1856)
Larrada fulvipes (F. Smith, 1856)
Larra fulvipes F. Smith, 1856

Size

large-sized species(1)

Identification

Hind femora have no patches of long hairs on ventral side.
Hind femora are mostly red or mostly black, depending on variety/gender. (males have mostly black)
Hind tibiae are mostly red or all-red.
Mandibles are light-colored.
Body all-dark.
Wings are orange colored with darker tips.
Scutum has silvery or golden reflective pubescence along the edges.
♀ three pale abdominal bands and a dark coppery brown pygidial plate(1)
♂ four pale abdominal bands and a bright silvery pygidial plate(1)

Range

transcontinental, Canada to Costa Rica(2)

Life Cycle

Females with Prey: (Grasshoppers)

See Also

In southern Florida, females can only be separated from Tachytes seminole, with a clear view of the pygidial plate. (dorsal surface on the apex of the abdomen) (1)
The males may be separated by the number of pale abdominal bands. The males of T. seminole have three pale bands.
Here is an example image of a female from Florida: ♀ dark coppery brown pygidial plate (vs. bright coppery in T. seminole)

Internet References

BOLDSYSTEMS website page for Tachytes distinctus - Specimens identified by DNA testing

Works Cited

1.A key to the genus Tachytes in America north of Mexico with descriptions of three new species (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae, Larrinae)
Richard Bohart. 1994. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 96:342-349.
2.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2024) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
Contributed by Robert Lord Zimlich on 27 January, 2016 - 8:32am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, v belov, KenW, Robert H. Biagi
Last updated 18 March, 2022 - 8:46am

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