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Sphex pensylvanicus Linnaeus, 1763
Life   Insecta   Hymenoptera   Apoidea   Sphecidae   Sphex
Subgenus: Sphex

Sphex pensylvanicus Linnaeus (Figs. 15, 85, 87) Sphex pensylvanica Linnaeus, 1763, Centuria Insect Rar., p. 30. Holotype ♀, Pennsylvania (BMNH).

Sphex pensylvanicus, top
© Brian E Womble · 9
Sphex pensylvanicus, top

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Sphex pensylvanicus, sphecid wasp
© Copyright John Ascher, 2006-2014 · 6
Sphex pensylvanicus, sphecid wasp
Sphex pensylvanicus, Great Black Wasp
© Copyright Sheryl Pollock 2011 · 5
Sphex pensylvanicus, Great Black Wasp

Sphex pensylvanicus, Great Black Wasp
© Copyright Sheryl Pollock 2011 · 4
Sphex pensylvanicus, Great Black Wasp
Sphex pensylvanicus, Great Black Wasp
© Copyright Gail Starr 2011 · 1
Sphex pensylvanicus, Great Black Wasp

Sphex pensylvanicus 4
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Sphex pensylvanicus 4
Sphex pensylvanicus 6
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Sphex pensylvanicus 6

Sphex pensylvanicus 7
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Sphex pensylvanicus 7
Sphex pensylvanicus 8
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Sphex pensylvanicus 8

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

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

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

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

Sphex pensylvanicus, antennae, male
Bohart, R.M., Menke, A.S. 1963 · 0
Sphex pensylvanicus, antennae, male
Sphex pensylvanicus, map
Bohart, R.M., Menke, A.S. 1963 · 0
Sphex pensylvanicus, map

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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 22 mm; body all black; wings black with violaceous tint; erect hairs of head and thorax black; face with some appressed tarnished silver pubescence; flagellum as in figure 87; sternite VIII triangular, apex truncate; genitalia as in figure 85.

Female.—Average length 28 mm; facial pubescence all dark.

Names
Scientific source:
Geographic distribution
Distribution.—Sphex pensylvanicus occurs throughout most of the United States north to the forty-third parallel (fig. 15).

Natural history
The type, a well-preserved female in the Banksian collection at the British Museum, was examined by Bohart. Biology.—Reinhard (1929) described a colony nesting in the floor of a green-house. Prey consisted of Microcentrum laurifolium (Linnaeus) and Scudderia furcata Brunner (Tettigoniidae). Rau (1944) observed this wasp nesting in the floor of a tool house. The burrows contained a single cell in which were placed up to five Phaneroptera furcata Brunner (Tettigoniidae). Krombein (1955) reported a dozen wasps nesting together on a perpendicular bluff. Prey consisted of the tettigoniid Microcentrum retinerve (Burmeister). Friseh (1938) described the burrow as containing up to ten cells. Two to six Microcentrum rhombifolium (Saussure) were placed in each cell.

Hosts · map
FamilyScientific name @ source (records)
Asclepiadaceae  Asclepias @ I_JSA (1)

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Updated: 2024-10-13 01:13:15 gmt
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