Cicada killer wasps (

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

s. They are so named because they hunt

cicada The cicadas () are a superfamily, the Cicadoidea, of insects in the order Hemiptera (true bugs). They are in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, along with smaller jumping bugs such as leafhoppers and froghoppers. The superfamily is divided into two ...

s and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

worldwide are recognized. The highest diversity occurs in the region between

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in t ...

and

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the former ...

. In North America, the term "cicada killer wasp" usually refers to the most well-known species, the eastern cicada killer (''S. speciosus''). A few other related genera also are sometimes referred to as "cicada killers", e.g. '' Liogorytes'' in South America and '' Exeirus'' in Australia. The use of cicadas as prey is in keeping with the typical behavior of the tribe

Gorytini Gorytini is a large and morphologically very diverse group of hunting wasps distributed worldwide and particularly species-rich in tropical areas. Most species hunt various hemipterans, especially among the Auchenorrhyncha, which they sting, pa ...

, which tend to specialize on various members of the

Cicadomorpha Cicadomorpha is an infraorder of the insect order Hemiptera which contains the cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, and spittlebugs. There are approximately 35,000 described species worldwide. Distributed worldwide, all members of this group ar ...

as prey items.

Species

This list of species is probably complete as of March 31, 2009. It has been adapted from th
Catalog of ''Sphecius'' species
(California Academy of Sciences). Notable subspecies are also given. More recently, it has been suspected that the

western cicada killer ''Sphecius grandis'', also called the western cicada killer, is a species of cicada killer wasp (''Sphecius''). The western species shares the same nesting biology as its fellow species, the eastern cicada killer ('' S. speciosus''). ''S. ...

('' S. grandis'') represents more than one species. Also, some evidence suggests that either the eastern cicada killer ('' S. speciosus'') has a subspecies or closely related species that mimics the

Pacific cicada killer ''Sphecius convallis'', the Pacific cicada killer, is a species of sand wasp in the family Crabronidae. It is found in Central America and North America. References Further reading * Crabronidae Articles created by Qbugbot Insects d ...

('' S. convallis''). Alternatively, when they were already well distinct species, significant

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two diff ...

ization has occurred between them, though not enough to fully overcome their

reproductive isolation The mechanisms of reproductive isolation are a collection of evolutionary mechanisms, behaviors and physiological processes critical for speciation. They prevent members of different species from producing offspring, or ensure that any offsprin ...

. * '' Sphecius antennatus'' (Klug, 1845) (Southern and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Central Asia) * '' Sphecius citrinus'' Arnold, 1929 (South Africa) * '' Sphecius claripennis'' Morice, 1911 (North Africa) * '' Sphecius conicus'' (Germar, 1817) (Balkans, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Greece) ** ''Sphecius conicus creticus'' de Beaumont, 1965 (Crete) ** ''Sphecius conicus syriacus'' (Klug, 1845) (Syria to China) * '' Sphecius convallis'' Patton, 1879 – Pacific cicada killer (Mexico: Baja California, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora; USA: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington) * '' Sphecius grandidieri'' (de Saussure, 1887) (Madagascar) * ''

Sphecius grandis ''Sphecius grandis'', also called the western cicada killer, is a species of cicada killer wasp (''Sphecius''). The western species shares the same nesting biology as its fellow species, the eastern cicada killer ('' S. speciosus''). ''S. ...

'' (Say, 1823) – western cicada killer (Costa Rica; Mexico: Baja California, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Yucatán; Nicaragua; USA: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington) * '' Sphecius hemixanthopterus'' Morice, 1911 (Algeria) * '' Sphecius hogardii'' (Latreille, 1806) – Caribbean cicada killer (Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, USA: southern Florida) ** ''Sphecius hogardii bahamas'' Krombein, 1953 (Bahama Islands: Bimini) * ''

Sphecius intermedius Cicada killer wasps ( genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide ...

'' Handlirsch, 1895 (Algeria) * ''

Sphecius lutescens Cicada killer wasps (genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide are ...

'' (Radoszkowski, 1877) (Central Asia) * ''

Sphecius malayanus Cicada killer wasps ( genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide ...

'' Handlirsch, 1895 (Indonesia: Timor, Sumbava) * ''

Sphecius milleri Cicada killer wasps ( genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide ...

'' R.Turner, 1915 (Zambia) ** ''Sphecius milleri aurantiacus'' Arnold, 1940 (Ethiopia) * ''

Sphecius nigricornis Cicada killer wasps ( genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide ...

'' (Dufour, 1838) (Southern and Eastern Europe, North Africa) * ''

Sphecius pectoralis Cicada killer wasps ( genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide ...

'' (F.Smith, 1856) (Australia) * ''

Sphecius persa Cicada killer wasps ( genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide ...

'' Gussakovskij, 1933 (Iran, Afghanistan) * ''

Sphecius quartinae Cicada killer wasps ( genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide ...

'' (Gribodo, 1884) (Guinea, Somalia) * ''

Sphecius schulthessi Cicada killer wasps ( genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide ...

'' Roth, 1951 (North Africa) * '' Sphecius speciosus'' (Drury, 1773) – Eastern cicada killer (Central and North America: Honduras to Ontario, Canada) * ''

Sphecius spectabilis Cicada killer wasps (genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide ar ...

'' (Taschenberg, 1875) –

South American cicada killer South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*su ...

(Brazil, Argentina) * ''

Sphecius uljanini Cicada killer wasps ( genus ''Sphecius'') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one species worldwide ...

'' (Radoszkowski, 1877) (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran)

References

External links

cicada killers, ''Sphecius'' spp.
on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site {{Taxonbar, from=Q2710050 Crabronidae Biological pest control wasps Taxa named by Anders Gustaf Dahlbom