Square-headed Wasps, Sand Wasps, and Allies

Crabronidae

Classification

Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Crabronidae

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Crabronidae: /krəˈbrɒnɪdeɪ/

These audio files are automatically generated. While they are not always 100% accurate, they are a good starting point.

Images

Stictia signata female BIML USGS by USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Laboratory. Used under a Public domain license.

American Sand Wasp (Bembix americana) by WanderingMogwai. Used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Stink Bug-hunter Wasp by cricketsblog. Used under a CC BY 2.0 license.

Sand Wasp - Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus, Meadowood Farm SRMA, Mason Neck, Virginia by Judy Gallagher. Used under a CC BY 2.0 license.

Microbembex monodonta P1560437a by
xpda. Used under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license.

Bembix americana 286369696 by Sus scrofa. Used under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Summary

Crabronidae is a large paraphyletic group of wasps that includes nearly all the species from the now-defunct superfamily Sphecoidea. It consists of over 200 genera containing more than 9000 species.

Diet

Larvae feed on prey captured and brought to the nest by adult wasps. The type of prey varies according to species of wasp, but includes aphids, bees, beetles, bugs, butterflies & moths, cicadas, cockroaches, crickets, flies, grasshoppers, hoppers, mantids, and spiders. Some species are kleptoparasitic.

Evolution

Crabronidae is a paraphyletic group; former superfamily Sphecoidea. The group includes several subfamilies often treated as separate families. Recent phylogenomic studies have shown that both bees and Sphecidae arose from within the Crabronidae.

Misconceptions

Crabronidae was formerly part of the Sphecidae, which is now recognized as a separate family.