Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

National Moth Week photos of insects and people. Here's how to add your images.

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 BugGuide Gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Discussion, insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29

Photos of insects and people from the 2015 gathering in Wisconsin, July 10-12

Photos of insects and people from the 2014 gathering in Virginia, June 4-7.

Photos of insects and people from the 2013 gathering in Arizona, July 25-28

Photos of insects and people from the 2012 gathering in Alabama

Photos of insects and people from the 2011 gathering in Iowa
TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoid Wasps (Apoidea)- traditional Sphecidae » Crabronidae » Bembicinae

Subfamily Bembicinae

Classification · Numbers · Identification · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Print References · Works Cited
Big Wasp (Cicada Killer?) ID Request - Sphecius speciosus Bee - Bembix - female wasp - Microbembex monodonta - female Cicada Killer - Sphecius speciosus Bembix americana spinolae - Bembix americana Sphecius speciosus - Sphecius speciosus Hymenoptera 17 - Nysson Bicyrtes sp - Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus
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 (Apoid Wasps (Apoidea)- traditional Sphecidae)
Family Crabronidae
Subfamily Bembicinae
Numbers
3 tribes in the subfamily, with ca. 280 spp. in 35 genera in our area(1) and ~1700 spp. in >80 genera worldwide(2)
Identification
Mesonotum almost always expanded laterally into laminae more or less overlying the bases of the tegulae, and the jugal lobe of the hind wing is shorter than the submedian cell; all except Bembicini have two apical spurs on the middle tibiae; forewings with three submarginal cells.
Food
Adults feed on nectar. Larvae are fed insects which the adults put in the nests: most species prey on Auchenorrhyncha but several species are kleptoparasitic on (steal from) other Bembicinae
Life Cycle
Ground-nesters
Remarks
Females are either solitary nest provisioners or brood parasites of other wasps. In the nest-provisioning species, each female digs one or more ground nests using mandibles and front legs (often armed with a row of stout rake spines called 'pecten').(3)
Print References
Parker J.B. (1917) A revision of the bembicine wasps of America North of Mexico. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 52: 1-155. (Full text)
Parker J.B. (1929) A generic revision of the fossorial wasps of the tribes Stizini and Bembicini with notes and descriptions of new species. Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 75: 1-203. (Full text)
Works Cited
1.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2017) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
2.Catalog of Sphecidae sensu lato
3.The Sand Wasps: Natural History and Behavior
Howard Ensign Evans & Kevin M. O'Neill. 2007. Harvard University Press.
Contributed by Richard Leung on 8 March, 2005 - 10:53pm
Additional contributions by Mike Boone, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Chuck Entz, Aaron Schusteff, kschnei, v belov, KenW
Last updated 21 March, 2019 - 6:59pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2020 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact