Sphex
Sign in to saveSphex is a genus of cosmopolitan wasp that sting and paralyze prey insects. Sphex is one of many genera in the old digger wasp family Sphecidae (sensu lato), though most apart from the Sphecinae have now been moved to the family Crabronidae. There are over 130 known Sphex species.
Taxonomy · GBIF
Great Golden Digger Wasp
GENUS
- KingdomAnimalia
- PhylumArthropoda
- ClassInsecta
- OrderHymenoptera
- FamilySphecidae
Observations29,437
Groupinsecta
via GBIF · iNaturalist · CC0
Article
7 sectionsContents
- Behavior
- The Sphex Wasp Experiment
- Use in philosophy<!--'Sphexishness' redirects here-->
- Species
- Fossil Species
- References
- External links
Sphex is a genus of cosmopolitan wasp that sting and paralyze prey insects. Sphex is one of many genera in the old digger wasp family Sphecidae (sensu lato), though most apart from the Sphecinae have now been moved to the family Crabronidae. There are over 130 known Sphex species.
==Behavior== In preparation for egg laying, they construct a protected "nest" (some species dig nests in the ground, while others use pre-existing holes) and then stock it with captured insects. Typically, the prey are left alive, but paralyzed by wasp toxins. The wasps lay their eggs in the provisioned nest and the wasp larvae feed on the paralyzed insects as they develop.