Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Sphex pensylvanicus - Great Black Digger Wasp


Distribution and biology of the Sphecine wasps of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Sphecinae)
By Mark F. O'Brien
The Great Lakes Entomologist, 22(4): 199-217, 1989

A reclassification of the Sphecinae with a revision of the Nearctic species of the tribes Sceliphronini and Sphecini
By Bohart RM and Menke AS
University of California Publications in Entomology 30:91-182, 1963

The digger wasps of North America and the West Indies belonging to the subfamily Chlorioninae
By H. T. Fernald
Proceedings of the United States National Museum, Vol. 31, Issue 1487, pp. 291-423, 1906
Dated taxonomy, but useful for species descriptions and illustrations.

Full text.

Sphecid wasps of the world: a generic revision
By Richard Mitchell Bohart, Arnold S. Menke
University of California Press, 1976
This is an excellent reference work!! The entire masterly obra magnum (675+ pages!) can be accessed beginning at the link below:

      https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_FExMjuRhjpIC/page/n1

...provided courtesy of the "Internet Archive".

Thanks to Jeff for pointing to this link, which provides access to the entire work...unlike the incomplete coverage available at the Google Books link I had originally posted here.

Trap-nesting wasps and bees: life histories, nests, and associates
By Krombein K.V.
Smithsonian Press, Washington, DC. vi+570 pp., 1967

Wasps: Their Biology, Diversity, and Role as Beneficial Insects and Pollinators of Native Plants
By Heather N. Holm
Pollination Press LLC; First edition, 2021

The Sting of the Wild: The Story of the Man Who Got Stung for Science
By Justin O. Schmidt
John Hopkins University Press: Baltimore, MD, 2016
This book is useful in dispelling myths about broad groups (particularly the oft-maligned Mutillidae). The Appendix contains the rankings for 83 species and includes all ranked species. It's also worth noting that this does mean that the majority of species are unranked, so caution should be taken in creating sweeping claims (as often done on rather erroneous Internet memes).

Molecular phylogenetics of Vespoidea indicate paraphyly of the superfamily...
By Pilgrim E.M., von Dohlen C.D., Pitts J.P.
Zoologica Scripta 37: 539–560, 2008
Full title: Molecular phylogenetics of Vespoidea indicate paraphyly of the superfamily and novel relationships of its component families and subfamilies

Abstract