Sphecius
Encyclopedia
- "Cicada killer wasp" redirects here. See also below for other taxa named thus.
Cicada killer wasps (the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Sphecius) are large, solitary, ground dwelling, predatory 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. They are so named because they hunt cicada
Cicada
A cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha , in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2,500 species of cicada around the world, and many of them remain unclassified...
s and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. There are 21 species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
worldwide. The highest diversity occurs in the region between North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
.
In North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, the term "cicada killer wasp" usually refers to the most well-known species, the Eastern cicada killer (S. speciosus). There are also a few other related genera sometimes referred to as "cicada killers", e.g. Liogorytes
Liogorytes
The genus Liogorytes comprises a group of large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory South American wasps which hunt cicadas as prey. It is related to the more common genus of cicada killers, Sphecius....
in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and Exeirus
Exeirus
The Australian cicada killer, Exeirus lateritius , is a large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasp. It is related to the more common American genus of cicada killers, Sphecius. In Australia, E...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The use of cicadas as prey is in keeping with the typical behavior of the tribe Gorytini
Gorytini
Gorytini is a large and morphologically very diverse group of hunting wasps distributed worldwide and particularly species-rich in tropical areas. Most species hunt various hemipterans, especially among the Auchenorrhyncha, which they sting, paralyze, and provision in underground nests as food for...
, which tend to specialize on various members of the Cicadomorpha
Cicadomorpha
The Cicadomorpha is the infraorder of the Hemiptera which contains the cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, and spittlebugs. There are approximately 35000 described species worldwide...
as prey items.
Species
This list of species is probably complete as of March 31, 2009. It has been adapted from the Catalog of Sphecius species (California Academy of Sciences). Notable subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
are also given.
More recently, it has been suspected that the Western cicada killer (S. grandis
Sphecius grandis
Sphecius grandis, also called the western cicada killer, is a species of cicada killer wasp . The western species shares the same nesting biology as its fellow species, the eastern cicada killer . S.grandis, like all other species of the genus Sphecius, mainly provides cicadas for its offspring...
) represents more than one species. There is also evidence to suggest that either the Eastern cicada killer (S. speciosus) has a subspecies or closely related species that mimics the Pacific cicada killer (S. convallis). Alternatively, when they were already well distinct species, significant hybridization has occurred between them, though not enough to fully overcome their reproductive isolation
Reproductive isolation
The mechanisms of reproductive isolation or hybridization barriers are a collection of mechanisms, behaviors and physiological processes that prevent the members of two different species that cross or mate from producing offspring, or which ensure that any offspring that may be produced is not...
.
- Sphecius antennatus (Klug, 1845) (Southern and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Central Asia)
- Sphecius citrinus Arnold, 1929 (South Africa)
- Sphecius claripennis Morice, 1911 (North Africa)
- Sphecius conicus (Germar, 1817) (Balkans, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Greece)
- Sphecius conicus creticus de Beaumont, 1965 (Crete)
- Sphecius conicus syriacus (Klug, 1845) (Syria to China)
- Sphecius convallis Patton, 1879 – Pacific cicada killer (California, Mexico)
- Sphecius grandidieri (de Saussure, 1887) (Madagascar)
- Sphecius grandisSphecius grandisSphecius grandis, also called the western cicada killer, is a species of cicada killer wasp . The western species shares the same nesting biology as its fellow species, the eastern cicada killer . S.grandis, like all other species of the genus Sphecius, mainly provides cicadas for its offspring...
(Say, 1823) – Western cicada killer (Nevada, Arkansas, Colorado, Mexico) - Sphecius hemixanthopterus Morice, 1911 (Algeria)
- Sphecius hogardii (Latreille, 1806) – Caribbean cicada killer (West Indies, Florida)
- Sphecius hogardii bahamas Krombein, 1953 (Bahama Islands: Bimini)
- Sphecius intermedius Handlirsch, 1895 (Algeria)
- Sphecius lutescens (Radoszkowski, 1877) (Central Asia)
- Sphecius malayanus Handlirsch, 1895 (Indonesia: Timor, Sumbava)
- Sphecius milleri R.Turner, 1915 (Zambia)
- Sphecius milleri aurantiacus Arnold, 1940 (Ethiopia)
- Sphecius nigricornis (Dufour, 1838) (Southern and Eastern Europe, North Africa)
- Sphecius pectoralis (F.Smith, 1856) (Australia)
- Sphecius persa Gussakovskij, 1933 (Iran, Afghanistan)
- Sphecius quartinae (Gribodo, 1884) (Guinea, Somalia)
- Sphecius schulthessi Roth, 1951 (North Africa)
- Sphecius speciosus (Drury, 1773) – Eastern cicada killer (Central and North America: Honduras to Canada)
- Sphecius spectabilis (Taschenberg, 1875) – South American cicada killer (Brazil, Argentina)
- Sphecius uljanini (Radoszkowski, 1877) (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran)
External links
- cicada killers, Sphecius spp. on the UFUniversity of FloridaThe 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...
/ IFASInstitute of Food and Agricultural SciencesThe 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...
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