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Species Sphex ichneumoneus - Great Golden Digger Wasp

Sphex ichneumoneus? - Sphex ichneumoneus - male Great Golden Digger Wasp - Sphex ichneumoneus Great Golden Digger Wasp? - Sphex ichneumoneus Great Golden Digger Wasp, Ferson Creek Fen Park - Sphex ichneumoneus - female Great Golden Digger Wasp - Sphex ichneumoneus - male Great golden digger wasp? - Sphex ichneumoneus wasp - Sphex ichneumoneus - female Great golden digger wasp - Sphex ichneumoneus - Sphex ichneumoneus - male
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 ichneumoneus (Great Golden Digger Wasp)
Explanation of Names
Sphex ichneumoneus (Linnaeus 1758)
ichneumoneus from the Greek ἰχνεύμων, 'tracker', + -εῖος, a suffix that creates an adjective form(1)
Size
15-27 mm
Identification
Head and thorax have golden hair. Metasoma black with orange/red on first 2-3 segments. Eastern specimens are dark-winged; western ones, clear-winged.(2)
Range
across NA to the neotropics
Habitat
Fields, meadows, with sandy areas nearby
Food
nests provisioned with long-horned orthopterans
Life Cycle
One paralyzed prey is placed in each cell, and one egg is laid on it. One generation per year.
Remarks
burrow is almost vertical, with cells radiating from central shaft
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