Distribution

Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Biology

Use pre-existing cavities as nest sites e.g. hollow stems, crevices in rocky situations, old bee or wasp burrows in the ground. They use grass stems and other plant material to divide up and seal their nest, carrying the stem beneath them in flight. Prey on grasshoppers in the family Tettigoniidae, and crickets in the family Gryllidae and occasionally cockroaches (Blattidae) (Bohart & Menke, 1976).

References

Arnold, G. 1928. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part XI. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 12: 338-375.

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.

Cameron, P.  1908. Hymenoptera, 7. Fossores, pp. 197-296 in Y. Sjöstedt (editor). Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der schwedischen zoologischen Expedition nach dem Kilimanjaro, dem Meru und den umgebenden Massaisteppen Deutsch-Ostafrikas 1905-1906, 2. Band, Abteilung 8-14. P. Palmquists Aktiebolag, Stockholm. 844 pp., 10 pls. (cover dated 1910, but p. 294 dated Mar 1908).

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 and map illustration © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa), or

photographs © Diedrich Visser (ARC, Pretoria).