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See Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2023

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

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TaxonomyBrowse
Info
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Genus Sphex

Sphecidae - Sphex lucae - female Isodontia? - Sphex dorsalis - male Wasp ID- Sphex nudus? - Sphex nudus Great Golden Digger Wasp - Sphex ichneumoneus Apoid Wasps (Aponidae) ID Please - Sphex dorsalis Katydid Wasp - Sphex nudus Wasp ID request - Sphex ichneumoneus Pennsylvania Wasp  - Sphex ichneumoneus
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
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Although the name is masculine, Linnaeus treated it as feminine, and many workers followed
Explanation of Names
Sphex Linnaeus 1758
Greek 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
Identification
key to spp. in (4)
Range
worldwide and throughout NA(5)
Food
nests provisioned with katydids (Tettigoniidae); each wasp species specializes on certain prey species
Remarks
Nest in ground