Superfamily SPHECOIDEA 1579 



Pelopeous canadensis Smith, 1856. Cat. Hym. Brit. Mus., v. 4, p. 233. d. 



Pelopoeus nigriventris Costa, 1864. Mus. Zool. Napoli, Ann. 2: 60. 



Pelopoeus tahitensis Saussure, 1867. Reise d. Novara, Zool., v. 2, Hym., p. 27, pi. 2, fig. 17. 



9,6. 

 Spliex economica Curtiss, 1938. Short Zoology of Tahiti, p. 155. 



Taxonomy: Rau, 1915. Psyche 22: 62-63 (cocoon). —Evans and Lin, 1956. Amer. Ent. Soc, 

 Trans. 81: 147, figs. 50-56 (larva). 



Biology: Peckham and Peckham, 1898. Wis. Geol. and Nat. Hist. Survey, Bui. 2 (Sci. Ser. 1): 

 176-199 (nest, prey). —Peckham and Peckham, 1905. Wasps, Social and Solitary, pp. 

 265-274 (nest, prey). —Rau and Rau, 1913. Ent. News 24: 392-401 (nest, prey). —Rau, 

 1915. Jour. Anim. Behavior 5: 240-249 (experiments on prey recognition). —Rau, 1915. Ent. 

 News 26: 469-471 (number of generations per year). —Rau and Rau, 1918. Wasp Studies 

 Afield, pp. 118-124 (nest). —Rau, 1928. Acad. Sci. St. Louis, Trans. 25: 443-466 (nest, prey, 

 experiments with substitute prey). —Rau, 1935. Ent. News 46: 267-270 (prey). — Muma 

 and Jeffers, 1945. Ent. Soc. Amer., Ann. 38: 246-255 (prey). —Rau, 1946. Brooklyn Ent. 

 Soc, Bui. 41: 10-11 (parasites, mating). — Shafer, 1949. Ways of a mud dauber, 78 pp., 10 

 pis., 9 figs, (nest, life history, physiology). — Eberhard, 1971 (1970). Psyche 77: 247-251 

 (predatory behavior). 



Morphology: Snodgrass, 1941. Smithsn. Inst., Misc. Collect. 99: no. 14: 50, pi. 23, figs. A-F 

 (male genitalia). 



Subfamily SPHECINAE 



All of our species are ground-nesting except for those belonging to Isodontia which nest in 

 pre-existing cavities in wood, stems or in the ground. 



Revision: Kohl, 1890. K. K. Naturhist. Hofmus., Ann. 5: 77-194, 317-462 (world spp.). 

 — Fernald, 1906. U. S. Natl. Mus., Proc. 31: 291-423 (New World spp.). — Bohart and 

 Menke, 1963. Univ. Calif. Pubs., Ent. 30: 117-160 (Nearctic spp.). 



Tribe SPHECINI 



Genus SPHEX Linnaeus 



Genus SPHEX Subgenus SPHEX Linnaeus 



Sphex Linnaeus, 1758. Syst. Nat., ed. 10, v. 1, p. 569. 



Type-species: Sphex flavipennis Fabricius. Desig. by Internatl. Comn. Zool. 

 Nomencl., Op. 180, 1946. 

 Sphaex Scopoli, 1772. Observ. Zool., Hist.-Nat., v. 5, p. 122. Emend, or error. 

 Ammobia Billberg, 1820. Enum. Ins., p. 105. 



Type-species: Pepsis argentata Fabricius. Desig. by Rohwer, 1911. 

 Proterosphex Fernald, 1905. Ent. News 16: 165. 



Type-species: Sphex maxillosus Fabricius. Orig. desig. 



Members of this subgenus are all fossorial, and many of them nest gregariously in the same 

 site year after year. So far as known the Nearctic species construct multicelled nests, each cell 

 at the end of a lateral from the vertical or obHque burrow. Preferred prey are nymphs or adults 

 of Tettigoniidae, but occasionally Gryllacrididae are also stored. Our species practice mass provi- 

 sioning, but one Oriental species practices progressive provisioning and is also unusual in con- 

 structing 1-celled nests. 



ashmeadi (Fernald). Calif., Nev., Utah, Colo., Ariz., N. Mex., Tex.; Mexico (Tamaulipas, Nuevo 

 Leon). 

 Chlorion (Proterosphex) ashmeadi Fernald, 1906. U. S. Natl. Mus., Proc. 31: 389. 9, cJ. 



dorsalis Lepeletier. Southern U. S., Fla. and Ga. to Calif.; Central and South America. 



Ecology: Nests in firm soil, the burrow vertical or nearly so, terminating in one or more 

 cells, each cell stored with 1-3 prey specimens. Prey: Conocephalus fasciatus (DeG.), C. 

 sp. 

 Sphex dorsalis Lepeletier, 1845. Hist. Nat. Ins., Hym., v. 3, p. 347. 6. 



