Wide-lobed Digger Wasp
S1, Male, profile
Wide-lobed Digger Wasp
S1, Male, Antenna
Animals
Plants
Info
| Wide-lobed Digger Wasp S1, Male, profile | | Wide-lobed Digger Wasp S1, Male, Antenna | | ||
Animals Plants Info |
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | ||||||||||||
| Order: | Ant Bee Wasps (Hymenoptera) | |||||||||||||
| Family: | Mud Dauber & Sand Wasp (Wasp:Sphecidae) iNaturalist Observation | |||||||||||||
| Species: | Wide-lobed Digger Wasp (Sphex latilobus)| This Photo: | 🔍S1, Male, Face🔎 | Thank you (Fauna_Mirifica) for identifying this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere 1st known Record in SA: as such, a range expansion. Male ~22mm long. Initially thought it was another S. bilobatus (due to the 2 trailing abdominal lobes), until we saw the red face & legs. Then we thought this was an undescribed Sphex. We can only find 3 sphex with this bi-lobed abdominal segment: 1. S. basilicus 2. S. bilobatus (seen at Ellura b4) & 3. S. latilobus It doesn't match our other S. bilobatus specimen as: 1. Lobes are different shape 2. Face, mandibles & femurs have significant red marks (black in S. bilobatus) 3. The femurs are wider 4. The hairs under the abdomen are black, not white. Not S bilobatus as: 1. It's only known from N Qld 2. Larger abdominal lobes than here. 3. Clypus pubescence is silvery/white not golden. We didn't think it was S. latilobus as: 1. Body is primarily black, S. latilobus looks red/brown in the description 2. The lobes are black & smaller; S. latilobus look brown & larger. 3. S. latilobus is only known from the WA. 4. With S. latilobus "the free clypeal margin is bright orange", not red as here. But Fauna_Mirifica explained: "Your thought process was largely correct, but it should indeed be this species based on the reddish clypeal margin and legs. The color hue of the specimen photos in the original description is not always ideal, it sometimes makes them look brighter than they actually are. In addition, those are based on pinned individuals collected in the 1960s, and they do get less black and more light brownish over time. Regarding the shape of sternum 8, it would probably be best to compare bilobatus and latilobus when they have been fully dissected, otherwise the are not always fully visible and the angle can also make it difficult. Lastly, as there are only 2 collecting localities listed in the revision, it is not impossible that the species is rare but has a wider distribution." The description states "Length of petiole 1.3x length of flagellomere II". This is hard to measure with live specimens, and photo's have difficulty maintaining size accuracy due to the angle taken, etc.
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