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Bembix massaica Cameron

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera; Superfamily: Apoidea; Family: Bembicidae; Subfamily: Bembicinae; Genus: Bembix)

Bembix massaica Cameron, 1908

Distribution

Recorded from Ethiopia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the north to Zimbabwe. Not recorded south, east or west of Zimbabwe (Gess & Gess, 2014).

Biology

Females excavate solitary burrows in sandy soil. Nests are provisioned with flies (Calliphoridae, Muscidae, Syrphidae, Sarcophagidae, Tachinidae among various other families).

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.

Gess F, Gess S 2014. Geographical distributions of Bembix (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae, Bembicinae) in southern Africa, with notes on biology. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 36: 53–130, doi: 10.3897/JHR.36.6491

Links

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

Credits

Photographs © Fred Gess (Albany Museum).

Web author Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

 

Citation: van Noort, S. 2025. WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the World. URL: www.waspweb.org (accessed on <day/month/year>).

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