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Species Sphex dorsalis

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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 dorsalis (Sphex dorsalis)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
see (1)
Explanation of Names
Sphex dorsalis Lepeletier 1845
Identification
Females have a black head and thorax, with golden pubescence on these segments. The legs are red apart with the exception of the final tarsus and claws. The abdomen has T1-3 and T6 red and T4-5 black.(1) They also can be separated from S. ichneumoneus and S. texanus by the red tip of the metasoma.

Males are black with clear wings and yellowish-silvery pubescence, particularly on the face. Specimens from the US are typically darker while those from Central America may have some red on the legs and abdomen. They can be distinguished from the similarly-colored males of S. texanus structurally by the poorly-defined median truncation of the clypeus, broader than the space between the antennal sockets, and a median subbasal spine on T6.(1)
Range
Originally stated to be a so. US species (GA-FL-CA) to South America(1). Recent iNaturalist records add SC, NC, VA, MD, TN, KS, AR, and MO. Museum records and iNaturalist add CA, and a 1933 museum record adds CO without a photo, which if accurate would be an early indication this is not only a so. US species.
Season
Roughly May-Oct in Texas
Food
Nests are provisioned with Conocephalus fasciatus.(1) Adults feed on nectar.
Life Cycle
Nest contains 3 cells, 2 of which are provisioned with 3 prey items each(1)
Works Cited
1.A reclassification of the Sphecinae with a revision of the Nearctic species of the tribes Sceliphronini and Sphecini
Bohart RM and Menke AS. 1963. University of California Publications in Entomology 30:91-182.