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Sphex decipiens Kohl

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera; Superfamily: Apoidea; Family: Sphecidae; Subfamily: Sphecinae; Tribe: Sphecini; Genus: Sphex)

Sphex decipiens Kohl, 1895: 65. Syntypes in Vienna (NHMW). Type locality: Cape Province, South Africa.

Classification

The photos of a female provisioning her nest, excavated in sand at Ndumu Game Reserve (Kwazulu-Natal), with captured prey: Acacia Katydid (Terpnistria species) photographed by Athol Marchant (Kwazulu-Natal was incorrectly identified as this species when in fact it is Sphex taschenbergi Magretti, 1884 (determination by Thorleif Dörfel, Museum fuer Naturkunde, Berlin). The very conspicuous basal infuscation of the wings is typical of only S. fumicatus and S. taschenbergi.  Sphex decipiens has the wings uniformly black. Sphex taschenbergi can be distinguished from S. fumicatus by having the erect facial setae black instead of silvery (pers. comm. Thorleif Dörfel, Museum fuer Naturkunde, Berlin 2020).

Distribution

South Africa.

Biology

Excavate nests in soil and are mostly gregarious. Colonies may exist for many years. They prey on grasshoppers (Orthoptera) in the family Tettigoniidae, and less often crickets in the families Gryllacrididae and Gryllidae (Bohart & Menke, 1976).

References

Bohart, R.M. & Menke, A. S. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World: a Generic Revision. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.

Brothers D.J. 1999. Phylogeny and evolution of wasps, ants and bees (Hymenoptera, Chrysidoidea, Vespoidea and Apoidea) Zoologica Scripta 28: 233–250.

Finnamore, A.T. & Michener, C.D. 1993. Superfamily Apoidea (pp. 279-357). In GOULET, H. & HUBER, J. (eds). Hymenoptera of the World: an identification guide to families. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 668 pp.

Links

CATALOG OF WORLD SPHECIDAE sensu lato (= Apoidea excluding bees) compiled by
Wojciech J. Pulawski (California Academy of Sciences).

Credits

Photographs © Iziko Museums of South Africa.

Map illustration © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa).

Web author Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

 

Citation: van Noort, S. 2024. WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the World. URL: www.waspweb.org (accessed on <day/month/year>).

Copyright 2004-2024 Iziko Museums of South Africa

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