Sphex habenus

Sphex

As you noted in your previous discussion, Sphex is a roughed up genus. Both those species are listed in the Sphecid Wasps of the World of Bohart and Mencke. And both have listed ranges of "Virginia to Texas." With many of the wasps having no other available information. Certainly no images. I put those two species on the Arkansas possible list. They may not occur here. I have certainly not found them.

… Herschel Raney, 16 September, 2005 - 7:42am

Darn! Keep an eye out...

Darn, Herschel, I was hoping you had seen them in Arkansas and could shed some light on the situation. I would call these things Sphex habenus for sure, based on Eric's identification, but Sphex flavovestita shows up both in the NCSU collection and in Brimley. (1) The name "flavovestita" sounds like it means "dressed in yellow" or something to that effect.

Keep an eye out for these--I thought they were Sceliphron at first--the coloration is somewhat similar. Like other related wasps, they move very rapidly and nervously around flowers. I only realized the first one was something different when I went through the images. The second one, image above, I recognized from my previous encounter--it has those lovely gold highlights, but is otherwise quite dark. This stands out, once you know what to look for. Also seems to be a bit smaller than Sphex ichneumoneus or
Sphex pennsylvanica.

This is on my list of things to check at the NC State Collection, some day.

Considering the proponderance of Sphex habenus in the NCSU collection, and Eric's identification, that crosses a threshold of "adequately probable" identification for me. I'll put this, and other images, under Sphex habenus.

Patrick Coin
Durham, North Carolina

… Cotinis, 16 September, 2005 - 9:49am