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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea sans Anthophila – Apoid Wasps » Square-headed Wasps, Sand Wasps, and Allies (Crabronidae) » Bembicinae » Sand Wasps (Bembicini) » Bembicina » Bicyrtes

Genus Bicyrtes

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Habitat · Life Cycle · Works Cited

sand wasp (digging) - Bicyrtes ventralis - female

Wasp digging a nest in granite path - Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus

Wasp with white markings on abdomen and green eyes - Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus - male

25Jul2018.PGTCenter.HN.Hymen4 - Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus - female

Bicyrtes? - Bicyrtes capnopterus - female

Bicyrtes spinosa? - Bicyrtes insidiatrix - male

Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus? - Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus

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 Crabronidae (Square-headed Wasps, Sand Wasps, and Allies)

Subfamily Bembicinae

Tribe Bembicini (Sand Wasps)

Subtribe Bembicina

Genus Bicyrtes

Other Common Names

Sand Wasps (also applied to genus Bembix, which is closely related)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Bicyrtes Lepeletier 1845

Explanation of Names

Latin bis 'two' + Greek kyrtos 'humped' --refers to two projections from the middle of the body (1)

Numbers

8 spp. in our area(2), 27 spp. total(3)

Identification

key to spp. in(4)

Range

New World genus (Canada to Panama, West Indies); throughout the US and adjacent Canada(2)(3)

Habitat

Found at fields with flowers. Nests in sandy soil.

Life Cycle

Provision nests with true bugs, esp. Pentatomidae, also Coreidae), and sometimes Reduviidae; the nest is "mass-provisioned", i.e., stocked just once, then closed (1)(5)(6)

Works Cited

1.	Wasp Farm Howard Ensign Evans. 1963. Comstock Publishing.

2.	Ascher J.S., Pickering J. (2017) Discover Life bee species guide and world checklist (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila)

3.	Pulawski W.J. (2003-) Catalog of Sphecidae sensu lato (Apoidea excluding Apidae)

4.	A review of the genus Bicyrtes (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae, Nyssoninae, Bembicini) Bohart R.M. 1996. Insecta Mundi 10: 139‒152.

5.	Insects: Their Natural History And Diversity: With a Photographic Guide to Insects of Eastern North America Stephen A. Marshall. 2006. Firefly Books Ltd.

6.	Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America Eric Eaton, Kenn Kaufman. 2006. Houghton Mifflin.

Contributed by Cotinis on 24 August, 2004 - 10:02pm
Additional contributions by v belov
Last updated 22 July, 2011 - 3:26pm

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