Thread-waisted Wasps
Lat. “Sphecidae“ The Sphecidae are a cosmopolitan family of parasitoidal wasps that includes sand wasps, mud daubers, and other thread-waisted wasps.
Hierarchy Biology The biology of the Sphecidae, even under the restricted definition, is still fairly diverse; some sceliphrines even display rudimentary forms of sociality, and some sphecines rear multiple larvae in a single large brood cell. Many nest in pre-existing cavities, or dig simple burrows in the soil, but some species construct free-standing nests of mud and even (in one genus) resin. All are predatory and parasitoidal, but the type of prey ranges from spiders to various dictyopterans, orthopteroids and larvae of either Lepidoptera or other Hymenoptera; the vast majority practice mass provisioning, providing all the prey items prior to laying the egg.
Phylogeny This phylogenetic tree is based on Sann et al., 2018, which used phylogenomics to demonstrate that both the bees (Anthophila) and the Sphecidae arose from within the former Crabronidae, which is therefore paraphyletic, and which they suggested should be split into several families; the former family Heterogynaidae nests within the Bembicidae, as here defined. These findings differ in several details from studies published by two other sets of authors in 2017, though all three studies demonstrate a paraphyletic “Crabronidae.”
Sources Goulet, H., Huber, J.T. (1993) Hymenoptera of the World. Agriculture Canada Research Branch, publication 1894/E. 668pp.
External links Catalog of Sphecidae sensu lato at Cal Academy
Online Identification Guide to Eastern North American Sphecidae
Biology of Australian Sphecidae
Image Gallery
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flowchart LR
classDef active fill:#fff
arthropods("phylum: Arthropods"):::active
arthropods-->insects("class: Insects"):::active
insects-->narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees("suborder: Narrow-waisted Wasps, Ants, and Bees"):::active
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->ants("family: Ants")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->bembix-rostrata(["species: Bembix rostrata"])
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->cellophane-bees("genus: Cellophane Bees")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->club-horned-wasps("family: Club-horned Wasps")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->cuckoo-wasps("family: Cuckoo Wasps")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->european-beewolf(["species: European beewolf"])
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->gasteruption("genus: Gasteruption")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->honey-bees-bumble-bees-and-allies("family: Honey Bees, Bumble Bees, and Allies")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies("family: Hornets, Paper Wasps, Potter Wasps, and Allies")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->ichneumonid-wasps("family: Ichneumonid Wasps")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->lindenius-albilabris(["species: Lindenius albilabris"])
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->masked-bees("genus: Masked Bees")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->mason-leafcutter-carder-and-resin-bees("family: Mason, Leafcutter, Carder, and Resin Bees")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->mining-bees("genus: Mining Bees")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->oxybelus("genus: Oxybelus")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees-.->sweat-bees("family: Sweat Bees")
narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees==>thread-waisted-wasps("family: Thread-waisted Wasps"):::active
click ants href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/ants/"
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click club-horned-wasps href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/club-horned-wasps/"
click cuckoo-wasps href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/cuckoo-wasps/"
click european-beewolf href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/european-beewolf/"
click gasteruption href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/gasteruption/"
click honey-bees-bumble-bees-and-allies href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/honey-bees-bumble-bees-and-allies/"
click hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/hornets-paper-wasps-potter-wasps-and-allies/"
click ichneumonid-wasps href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/ichneumonid-wasps/"
click lindenius-albilabris href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/lindenius-albilabris/"
click masked-bees href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/masked-bees/"
click mason-leafcutter-carder-and-resin-bees href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/mason-leafcutter-carder-and-resin-bees/"
click mining-bees href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/mining-bees/"
click oxybelus href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/oxybelus/"
click sweat-bees href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/sweat-bees/"
click thread-waisted-wasps href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/thread-waisted-wasps/"
click arthropods href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/"
click insects href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/"
click narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees href "/en/catalogue/arthropods/insects/narrow-waisted-wasps-ants-and-bees/"
Further Information
„Thread-waisted Wasps“ on wikipedia.org
„Thread-waisted Wasps“ on iNaturalist.org
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