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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 » Thread-waisted Wasps (Sphecidae) » Sphecinae » Sphecini » Sphex

Genus Sphex

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Print References · Works Cited
Great Black Wasp - Sphex pensylvanicus Sphex lucae Some sort of Digger Wasp - Sphex habenus Sphex ichneumoneus? - Sphex ichneumoneus Wasp - Sphex jamaicensis Isodontia? - Sphex dorsalis - male Unknown Insect photo graphed by Mel Pollinger - Sphex pensylvanicus sphecid 1 - Sphex pensylvanicus
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 Sphecidae (Thread-waisted Wasps)
Subfamily Sphecinae
Tribe Sphecini
Genus Sphex
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Sphex Linnaeus, 1758
Although the name is masculine, Linnaeus treated it as feminine, and many other authors followed. When searching for a Sphex species name, it's best to try both masculine and feminine endings.
Explanation of Names
Greek sphex (σφηξ), the ancient name of a kind of wasp.
Numbers
12 spp. in 2 subgenera (Fernaldia with just 1 sp.) in our area(1), ~120 spp. worldwide(2); 9 spp. in e. US(3)
Size
Up to 28 mm
Range
worldwide and throughout NA(4)
Food
Adults take nectar.
Life Cycle
Prey on katydids, Tettigoniidae, utilizing one species per wasp species. Nest is built in ground, somewhat gregarious.
Print References
Bohart, R. M., and A. S. Menke. 1963. A reclassification of the Sphecinae, with a revision of the Nearctic species of the tribes Sceliphronini and Sphecini (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). University of California Publications in Entomology 30(2):91-182.
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Catalog of Sphecidae sensu lato
3.Raney H. (-2014) Eastern sphecid wasps
4.Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2016) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)
Contributed by Cotinis on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by Hartmut Wisch, Chuck Entz, v belov
Last updated 1 July, 2012 - 2:56pm

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