HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp

Clickable Guide

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

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

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

Previous events

TaxonomyBrowse

Info

ImagesLinksBooksData

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

Genus Tachytes

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Works Cited

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

Explanation of Names

Tachytes Panzer 1806

from the Greek ταχύτης, 'swiftness, speed'

Numbers

35 spp. in our area divided into 7 species groups(1)(2), ~300 worldwide(3)

abdominalis-group (6 spp.)

amazonus-group (2 spp.)

aurulentus-group (5 spp.)

distinctus-group (4 spp.)

ermineus-group (8 spp.)

mergus-group (1 sp.: T. mergus)

pepticus-group (9 spp.)

Size

7-19 mm(4)

Identification

Key to spp. in (4)

Some species have very dark eyes:

♀

♂

♀

in some species, males have modified flagellomeres:

basal:

apical:

Range

worldwide

Life Cycle

Nests in sand, provisioned with grasshoppers, katydids

See Also

Some other green-eyed wasps, e.g. Larra, look similar.

Tachysphex spp. are generally smaller, with a pointy abdomen, and no pygidial plate.

Print References

Hilltoping behavior: Alcock (2007)

Works Cited

1.	Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico Karl V. Krombein, Paul D. Hurd, Jr., David R. Smith, and B. D. Burks. 1979. Smithsonian Institution Press.

2.	Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2017) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)

3.	Pulawski W.J. (2003-) Catalog of Sphecidae sensu lato (Apoidea excluding Apidae)

4.	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.

Contributed by Joel Kits on 20 April, 2005 - 9:34pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, John S. Ascher, v belov, Robert H. Biagi, PaleoJon
Last updated 28 July, 2024 - 5:39pm

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 © 2003-2024 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Printer Friendly Version