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Sphex dorsalis Lepeletier, 1845
Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Sphecidae   Sphex
Subgenus: Sphex

Sphex dorsalis
� Scott Nelson · 9
Sphex dorsalis

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Sphex dorsalis
� Scott Nelson · 9
Sphex dorsalis
Sphex dorsalis, head
� Scott Nelson · 9
Sphex dorsalis, head

Sphex dorsalis, side
Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab; Photographer: Erika Tucker · 1
Sphex dorsalis, side
Sphex dorsalis, face
Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab; Photographer: Erika Tucker · 1
Sphex dorsalis, face

Sphex dorsalis, top
Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab; Photographer: Erika Tucker · 1
Sphex dorsalis, top
Sphex dorsalis
Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab; Photographer: Erika Tucker · 1
Sphex dorsalis

Sphex dorsalis, face
Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab; Photographer: Erika Tucker · 1
Sphex dorsalis, face
Sphex dorsalis, abdomen
Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab; Photographer: Erika Tucker · 1
Sphex dorsalis, abdomen

Sphex dorsalis
Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab; Photographer: Erika Tucker · 1
Sphex dorsalis
Sphex dorsalis, antennae, male
Bohart, R.M., Menke, A.S. 1963 · 0
Sphex dorsalis, antennae, male

Sphex dorsalis, map
Bohart, R.M., Menke, A.S. 1963 · 0
Sphex dorsalis, map
Overview
Taken from: Bohart, R.M., Menke, A.S. 1963. A Reclassification of the Sphecinae: With a Revision of the Nearctic Species of the Tribes Sceliphronini and Sphecini.
Male.—Average length 19 mm; body black; wings clear; erect hair of head and thorax whitish; face with yellowish silvery appressed pubescence; lobe and apex of pronotum, tegula, scutal furrows, postscutellum, propodeum above hind coxae, mesopleura behind pronotal lobe, band on stigmatal groove of metapleura, fore coxa, and mesosternum with appressed silver pubescence; flagellum as in figure 90; sternite VIII acutely produced posteriorly, plate bearing a spinous process basally; genitalia as in figures 76 and 82.
Female.—Average length 19 mm; femora, tibiae, tarsi, gastral segments I—Ill, VI red; propodeal enclosure with appressed silver pubescence; fore femur with abundant hair on lower one-half of outer surface.

Names
Scientific source:

Sphex dorsalis Lepeletier (Pigs. 14, 76, 82, 90) Sphex dorsalis Lepeletier, 1845, Hist. Nat. Insect. Hymen., 3:347. Holotype ♂, Cayenne (TURIN). Sphex singularis Smith, 1856, Cat Hymen. Insects Brit. Mus., 4:261. Holotype ♂, Honduras (BMNH). Sphex chlorargyrica Costa, 1862, Ann. Mus. Zool. Napoli, 1:66. Holotype ♂, “Bras.,” Brazil (NAPLES). Sphex micans Taschenberg, 1869, Zeitschr. Ges. Naturwiss. Halle, 34:419. Lectotype ♀, Parana, Argentina (HALLE). Designated by Menke, 1963. Preoccupied by Sphex micans Eversmann, 1849. Sphex dubitata Cresson, 1872, Trans. Am. Ent. Soc., 4:213. Holotype ♀, Texas (ANSP). Sphex spiniger Kohl, 1890, Ann. K. K. Naturhist. Hofmus., 5:428. Syntype ♂♂, Mexico, Brazil (VIENNA, BUDAPEST). Synonymy teste Fernald, 1931.


Geographic distribution
Distribution.—This species occurs in Mexico, Central America, and South America, as well as in the southeastern United States from Florida to New Mexico (fig. 14). We have seen additional material from California from which state it has not been previously known. These specimens, collected between August 9 and October 6, bear the following data: 2 males, 1 female, Sacramento, on Melilotus alba (L. Bruner, NEBR); 1 male, Davis (UCD); 1 male, 1 female, Turlock (R. Snelling, UCD).

Natural history
This species has been generally known as singularis Smith, but Bohart studied the type of dorsalis and verified the synonymy. Bohart has seen the types of singularis, chlorargyrica, and dubitata. Fernald (1931) is the authority for the synonymy of spiniger. Menke examined the syntypes of micans. Males exhibit some color variation, and in Central American specimens the legs and abdomen are frequently partly red.
Biology.—Krombein and Evans (1954) described the nest as three-celled, with prey of Conocephalus fasciatus (De Geer). Three of the tettigoniids were found in each of two of the cells.

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Updated: 2024-03-29 15:27:40 gmt
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