Sphecidae

Cricket-hunter wasp Chlorion aerarium, copyright David Bygott.

Belongs within: Apoidea.
Contains: Sphex, Isodontia, Prionyx, Palmodes, Ammophilinae, Chalybion, Sceliphron, Penepodium, Podium.

The Sphecidae, thread-waisted wasps, are a group of often large wasps whose gaster bears a more or less elongate petiole that is usually composed of the first gastral sternite only. Historically, the name has been used to cover all apoid wasps (i.e. Apoidea excluding bees), a group that now known to be paraphyletic.

Characters (from Bohart & Menke 1976, as Sphecinae): Inner orbits entire, converging or diverging below or parallel; ocelli normal. Antennae usually inserted near middle of face, sockets contiguous with to widely separated from frontoclypeal suture; male with 13 and female with 12 antennal articles. Clypeus transverse or higher than wide, rarely nasiform. Mandible without a notch or angle on externoventral margin; palpal formula usually 6-4 (rarely 6-3 to 6-1); mouthparts short to long; mandibular socket usually closed; occiput and hypostoma usually in contact or nearly so. Pronotum with a high, short collar or collar elongate, and somewhat depressed below level of scutum, rarely tuberculate; pronotal lobe broadly separated from tegula. Notauli present or absent but weak and short when present; no oblique scutal carina. Episternal sulcus usually present, usually extending to anteroventral region of pleuron; omaulus absent. Definitive metapleuron usually consisting of upper metapleural area only. Midtibia usually with two apical spurs; midcoxal cavities and coxae usually approximate, midcoxae without dorsolateral carina or crest; precoxal lobe present; hindfemur usually simple apically; claws with one to five teeth on inner margin, or simple; foretarsal rake present or absent; arolium usually large. Propodeum moderately long to very long; enclosure present, U-shaped, or absent; propodeal sternite present. Forewing usually with three submarginal cells and two recurrent veins whose end point is variable; marginal cell apex acuminate, rounded, or truncate. Jugal lobe large, occupying most of anal area, hindwing media usually diverging at or after cu-a; hindwing without subcoatal vein but with third anal vein. Gaster with cylindrical petiole composed of sternum I, displaced tergum I rarely forming part of petiole; tergum I without lateral carina or line; male with six or seven visible gastral segments; pygidial plate absent. Volsella of male genitalia usually with cuspis and movable digitus; aedeagal head usually with teeth on ventral margin; male sternum VIII variable; cerci present or absent.

Sphecidae [Sceliphronina, Sceliphronini]
    |--Sphecinae SN18
    |    |--+--Sphecini [Sphecina] BM76
    |    |  |    |--Sphex PK17
    |    |  |    `--+--+--Isodontia PK17
    |    |  |       |  `--'Prionyx’ subatratus (Bohart 1958) SN18, BM76 [=Priononyx subatratus BM76]
    |    |  |       `--Prionychini [Prionyxina] SN18
    |    |  |            |--Prionyx PK17
    |    |  |            `--+--Chilosphex Menke in Bohart & Menke 1976 BM76
    |    |  |               |    |--*C. argyrius (Brullé 1833) (see below for synonymy) BM76
    |    |  |               |    `--C. pseudoargyrius (Roth 1967) [=Sphex pseudoargyrius, Palmodes pseudoargyrius] BM76
    |    |  |               `--Palmodes BM76
    |    |  `--Ammophilinae BM76
    |    `--Stangeella Menke 1962 BM76 [Stangeellini SN18, Stangellina]
    |         `--*S. cyaniventris (Guérin-Méneville 1831) [=Pelopoeus cyaniventris, Chlorion cyaniventris] BM76
    `--+--Sceliphrinae SN18
       |    |--Sceliphrini SN18
       |    |    |--Chalybion SN18
       |    |    `--Sceliphron SN18
       |    `--Podiini SN18
       |         |--+--Penepodium BM76
       |         |  `--Dynatus Lepeletier 1845 [incl. Stethorectus Smith 1847] BM76
       |         |       |--D. nigripes (Westwood 1832) [=Podium nigripes; incl. P. giganteum Erichson 1848] BM76
       |         |       |    |--D. n. nigripes BM76
       |         |       |    `--*D. n. spinolae Lepeletier 1845 [incl. *Stethorectus ingens Smith 1847] BM76
       |         |       |--D. burmeisteri (Burmeister 1861) (see below for synonymy) BM76
       |         |       `--D. crassipes (Cameron 1897) [=Podium crassipes] BM76
       |         `--+--Podium BM76
       |            `--Trigonopsis Perty 1833 BM76
       |                 |--T. rufiventris (Fabricius 1804) BM76 (see below for synonymy)
       |                 |--T. cameronii (Kohl 1902) [=Podium cameronii] BM76
       |                 |--T. cyclocephalus Smith 1873 BM76
       |                 |--T. grylloctonus Richards 1937 BM76
       |                 |--T. intermedia Saussure 1867 BM76
       |                 |--T. moraballi Richards 1937 BM76
       |                 |--T. resplendens (Kohl 1902) [=Podium resplendens] BM76
       |                 |--T. soror Mocsáry 1883 [incl. T. frivaldszkyi Mocsáry 1883] BM76
       |                 |--T. vicina (Dalla Torre 1897) (see below for synonymy) BM76
       |                 `--T. violascens (Dalla Torre 1897) (see below for synonymy) BM76
       `--Chlorion Latreille 1802-1803 BM76 [=Chlorium Schulz 1906 BM76; Chloriontinae SN18]
            |--*C. lobatum (Fabricius 1775) (see below for synonymy) BM76
            |    |--C. l. lobatum BM76
            |    `--C. l. rugosum Smith 1856 BM76
            |--C. aerarium Patton 1879 [incl. Sphex nearcticus Kohl 1890] BM76
            |--C. boharti Menke 1961 BM76
            |--C. consanguineum (Kohl 1898) [=Sphex consanguineus] BM76
            |--C. cyaneum Dahlbom 1843 [incl. Sphex occultus Kohl 1890] BM76
            |--C. funereum Gribodo 1879 [incl. Sphex eximius Kohl 1885 non Lepeletier 1845, S. kohli André 1888] BM76
            |--C. hemiprasinum (Sichel 1863) (see below for synonymy) BM76
            |--C. hemipyrrhum (Sichel 1863) (see below for synonymy) BM76
            |--C. hirtum (Kohl 1885) [=Sphex hirtus] BM76
            |--C. magnificum Morawitz 1887 BM76
            |--C. maxillosum (Poiret 1787) (see below for synonymy) BM76
            |    |--C. m. maxillosum BM76
            |    `--C. m. ciliatum (Fabricius 1787) (see below for synonymy) BM76
            |--C. migiurtinicum (Giordani Soika 1941) [=Sphex migiurtinicus] BM76
            |--C. mirandum (Kohl 1890) [=Sphex mirandus] BM76
            |--C. regale Smith 1873 [incl. C. superbum Radoszkowski 1887] BM76
            |--C. semenowi Morawitz 1890 BM76
            |    |--C. s. semenowi BM76
            |    `--C. s. occidentale (Beaumont 1962) (see below for synonymy) BM76
            |--C. splendidum Fabricius 1804 (see below for synonymy) BM76
            |--C. strandi Willink 1951 [incl. Sphex tibialis Strand 1910 nec Fabricius 1781 nec Lepeletier 1845] BM76
            `--C. viridicoeruleum Lepeletier & Serville 1828 BM76

Sphecidae incertae sedis:
  Baissodes [Baissodidae] R02
    |--B. longus Rasnitsyn 1986 RJ93
    `--B. robustus R02
  Archisphex BM76 [incl. Palaeapis Hong 1984 E01] E01
    |--‘*Palaeapis’ beiboziensis Hong 1984 E01
    `--A. crowsoni Evans 1969 BM76
  Lisponema singularis Evans 1969 BM76
  Taimyrisphex pristinus Evans 1973 BM76
  Philoponites clarus Cockerell 1915 BM76
  Prophilanthus destructus Cockerell 1906 BM76
  Larrophanes ophthalmicus Handlirsch 1907 BM76
  Corenocrabro Tsuneki 1974 BM76
    `--*C. ectemiformis Tsuneki 1974 BM76
  Cretosphex Rasnitsyn 1975 BM76
    `--*C. incertus Rasnitsyn 1975 BM76
  Mataeosphex venulosus Zhang 1985 RJ93
  Hoplisidea kohliana Cockerell 1906 SN18, BM76

*Chilosphex argyrius (Brullé 1833) [=Sphex argyrius, Palmodes argyrius; incl. S. emarginatus Brullé 1833 non Villers 1789] BM76

Chlorion hemiprasinum (Sichel 1863) [=Sphex hemiprasinus; incl. C. bicolor Saussure 1869, C. pretiosum Taschenberg 1869] BM76

Chlorion hemipyrrhum (Sichel 1863) [=Sphex hemipyrrhus; incl. S. eximius Strand 1910 nec Lepeletier 1845 nec Kohl 1885, S. lepidus Strand 1910, Chlorion metallicum Taschenberg 1869, C. nobilitatum Taschenberg 1869, C. pallidipenne Taschenberg 1869, Sphex principalis Strand 1910] BM76

*Chlorion lobatum (Fabricius 1775) [=Sphex lobatus; incl. C. azureum Lepeletier & Serville 1828, C. azuzium (l. c.), Sphex chrysis Christ 1791, S. viridis Barbut 1781] BM76

Chlorion maxillosum (Poiret 1787) [=Sphex maxillosus; incl. Pronaeus apicalis Guérin-Méneville 1849, P. nigripes Guérin-Méneville 1849, P. rufipes Guérin-Méneville 1849] BM76

Chlorion maxillosum ciliatum (Fabricius 1787) [=Sphex ciliatus; incl. Pronaeus afinis Smith 1856, Chlorion columbianum Gribodo 1883, Sphex cyanescens Radoszkowski 1881, C. fulvipes Gerstaecker 1857, Pronaeus instabilis Smith 1856, Sphex kigonseranus Strand 1916, S. levilabris Cameron 1910, Chlorion mandibulare Fabricius 1804, S. massaicus Cameron 1908, Pepsis maxillaris Palisot de Beauvois 1805, Chlorion subcyaneum Gerstaecker 1857, C. unicolor Saussure 1867, C. varipenne Reiche & Fairmaire 1850, Sphex xanthoceros Illiger 1801, C. zonatum Saussure 1867] BM76

Chlorion semenowi occidentale (Beaumont 1962) [=Sphex occidentalis; incl. C. bicolor Walker 1871 non Saussure 1869] BM76

Chlorion splendidum Fabricius 1804 [incl. Pronaeus campbelli Saunders 1841, C. forficula Saussure 1891, C. melanosoma Smith 1856, Sphex pulcher Lepeletier 1845] BM76

Dynatus burmeisteri (Burmeister 1861) [=Podium burmeisteri; incl. P. lindneri Schulthess 1937] BM76

Trigonopsis rufiventris (Fabricius 1804) BM76 [=Podium rufiventre BM76; incl. *T. abdominalis Perty 1833 BM76, Podium abdominale K18, T. haemorrhoidalis Smith 1856 BM76]

Trigonopsis vicina (Dalla Torre 1897) [=Sceliphron vicinum, T. affinis Smith 1851 nec Sphex affinis Fabricius 1793 nec S. affinis Lucas 1849, Sc. affine] BM76

Trigonopsis violascens (Dalla Torre 1897) [=Sceliphron violascens, T. violacea Smith 1851 non Sphex violacea Fabricius 1775] BM76

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[BM76] Bohart, R. M., & A. S. Menke. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World. University of California Press: Berkeley.

[E01] Engel, M. S. 2001. A monograph of the Baltic amber bees and evolution of the Apoidea (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 259: 1–192.

[K18] Kohl, F. F. 1918. Die Hautflügergruppe "Sphecinae". IV. Teil. Die natürliche Gattung Sceliphron Klug (Pelopoeus Latr.). Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museum in Wien 32: 1–171.

[PK17] Peters, R. S., L. Krogmann, C. Mayer, A. Donath, S. Gunkel, K. Meusemann, A. Kozlov, L. Podsiadlowski, M. Petersen, R. Lanfear, P. A. Diez, J. Heraty, K. M. Kjer, S. Klopfstein, R. Meier, C. Polidori, T. Schmitt, S. Liu, X. Zhou, T. Wappler, J. Rust, B. Misof & O. Niehuis. 2017. Evolutionary history of the Hymenoptera. Current Biology 27 (7): 1013–1018.

[R02] Rasnitsyn, A. P. 2002. Superorder Vespidea Laicharting, 1781. Order Hymenoptera Linné, 1758 (=Vespida Laicharting, 1781). In: Rasnitsyn, A. P., & D. L. J. Quicke (eds) History of Insects pp. 242–254. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.

[RJ93] Ross, A. J., & E. A. Jarzembowski. 1993. Arthropoda (Hexapoda; Insecta). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 363–426. Chapman & Hall: London.

[SN18] Sann, M., O. Niehuis, R. S. Peters, C. Mayer, A. Kozlov, L. Podsiadlowski, S. Bank, K. Meusemann, B. Misof, C. Bleidorn & M. Ohl. 2018. Phylogenomic analysis of Apoidea sheds new light on the sister group of bees. BMC Evolutionary Biology 18: 71.