Crabronidae is a large family of wasp

Wasp

The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...

s, that includes nearly all of the species formerly comprising the now-defunct superfamily Sphecoidea. It collectively includes well over 200 genera, containing well over 9000 species. Crabronids were originally a part of Sphecidae

Sphecidae

Sphecidae is a cosmopolitan family of wasps that include digger wasps, mud daubers and other familiar types that all fall under the category of thread-waisted wasps.The are predominently solitary wasp,distributed world wide.At present this family consist of eight subfamilies and three tribes...

, but the latter name is now restricted to a separate family based on what was once the subfamily Sphecinae. As this change is very recent, it seems likely that the subfamilies of Crabronidae will each eventually be treated as families in their own right, as they have been treated as such by many authorities in the past (as in the catalog linked below).

Subgroups

• Subfamily Astatinae (incl. Dinetinae)
• Astata
  Astata
  Astata is a genus of wasps in the subfamily Astatinae. This particular wasp is known to prey on Pentatomidae. Like other astatine wasps, Astata is a cosmopolitan group of solitary wasps...
  
  , etc.

• Subfamily Bembicinae
• Tribe Bembicini

• Bembix
  Bembix
  Bembix is a large cosmopolitan genus of large, often brightly-colored predatory sand wasps, consisting of about 380 species.-External links:* Photographs of Palearctic species....
  
  Fabricius 1775
• Zyzzyx
  Zyzzyx
  Zyzzyx is a monospecific genus of sand wasp, containing a brightly colored, medium-sized species, Z. chilensis. It is primarily a predator on flies, but has been observed to consume skippers. "Zyzzyx" is a replacement name proposed in 1937 by V. S. L. Pate for Therapon, originally described by J....
  
  Pate 1937, etc.
  • Tribe Gorytini
• Sphecius
  Sphecius
  Cicada killer wasps are large, solitary, ground dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. There are 21 species worldwide...
  
  , etc.
  • Subfamily Crabroninae (incl. Eremiaspheciinae)
  • Crabro
  • Aha
    Aha ha
    Aha ha is a species of Australian wasp, named by the entomologist Arnold Menke in 1977 as a joke. Menke described how, when he received a package from a colleague containing insect specimens, he exclaimed "Aha!" . The name was also used as the vehicle registration plate of Menke's car ....
    
    , etc
  • Subfamily Larrinae
  • Dalara
    Dalara
    Dalara is a genus of wasp in the family Crabronidae, sub-family Larrinae....
    
    
  • Subfamily Mellininae
  • Mellinus
  • Xenosphex
  • Subfamily Pemphredoninae
  • Microstigmus
    Microstigmus
    The thin-waisted social wasps , which typically resides in neotropic regions from Central to South America, are a small genus of wasps that build nests and live in colonies ranging in size from 1 to 18 members. Microstigmus is widely considered to be the only true eusocial species within the...
    
    
  • Pemphredon, etc.
  • Subfamily Philanthinae
  • Cerceris
    Cerceris
    The genus Cerceris of the subfamilly Philanthinae is in the family Crabronidae. This is the largest genus in the family, with over 1000 described species and numerous more undescribed. The genus consists of solitary, predatory wasps, most of which prey on beetles...
    
    
  • Philanthus
    Philanthus
    Beewolves , also known as bee-hunters, burrowing wasps, or philanthuses, are solitary, predatory wasps, most of which prey on bees, hence their common name...
    
    , etc.
  • etc.

External links

• Image Gallery from Gembloux
• Larra spp., mole cricket hunters on the UF
  University of Florida
  The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
  
   / IFAS
  Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
  The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
  
  Featured Creatures Web site