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Ampulicidae

Cockroach wasps of the Afrotropical Region

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera; Superfamily: Apoidea)

Classification

Ampulicinae
Dolichurinae

Distribution

Worldwide.

 

Ampulex_with_prey_Deropeltis_Dion_Brandt

Photograph © Dion Brandt.

Biology

Nest in stems and crevices. Prey on cockroaches, which are weakly paralysed and dragged backwards by the wasp to the nest. The nest is provisioned with only one cockroach and the egg is laid on the mid-coxa. The nest is closed with plant debris.

References

Arnold, G. 1920. A revision of the South African species of the genus Sphex Linn. (olim Ammophila Kirby). Proceedings of the Rhodesia Scientific Association 18 (2):25-55, 2 pls.

Arnold, G. 1922. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part I. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 9:101-138.

Arnold, G. 1923a. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part II. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 9:143-190, pl. V.

Arnold, G.  1923b. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part III. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 9:191-253.

Arnold, G.  1923c. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part IV. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 10:1-58.

Arnold, G.  1924.The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part V. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 11:1-73, pl. I-II.

Arnold, G.  1925. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part VI. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 11:137-175.

Arnold, G.  1926. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part VII. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 11:338-376.

Arnold, G.  1927. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part VIII. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 12:55-131.

Arnold, G. 1928a. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part IX. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 12:191-232, pl.VIII.

Arnold, G.  1928b. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part X. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 12: 233-279, pls. IX-XI.

Arnold, G.  1928c. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part XI. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 12:338-375.

Arnold, G. 1929a. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part XII. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 13:217-319.

Arnold, G. 1929b. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part XIII. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 13:320-380, pl. VI.

Arnold, G. 1929c. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part XIV. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 13:381-418, pls. VII-VIII.

Arnold, G. 1930. A check-list of the Sphegidae of the Ethiopian Region. University Press, Cambridge, England. 21 pp.

Arnold, G. 1931. The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part XV (conclusion). Annals of the Transvaal Museum 14:135-220.

Arnold, G. 1932. New species of Ethiopian Sphegidae. Occasional Papers of the Rhodesian Museum 1:1-31.

Arnold, G. 1933. Entomological expedition to Abyssinia, 1926-7. Hymenoptera, II.: Sphegidae and Psammocharidae. With an introductory note and supplementary list by Hugh Scott, Sc. D. The Annals and Magazine of Natural History (Series 10) 11:351-371.

Arnold, G. 1935. Scientific results of the Vernay-Lang Kalahari expedition, March to September, 1930. Sphegidae and Psammocharidae. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 16: 497-505.

Arnold, G. 1945 (1944). The Sphecidae of Madagascar. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 193 pp.

Arnold, G. 1951. Sphecidae and Pompilidae (Hymenoptera) collected by Mr. K.M. Guichard in West Africa and Ethiopia. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology 2:95-183.

Arnold, G. 1960. Aculeate Hymenoptera from the Drakensberg Mountains, Natal. Annals of the Natal Museum 15: 79-87.

Bohart, R.M. & Menke, A. S. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World: a Generic Revision. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.

Brauns, H. 1899. Zur Kenntnis der südafrikanischen Hymenopteren. Ann. Naturhist. Hofmus, Wien, 13: 382-423.
Brauns, H. 1906. Zur Kenntnis der südafrikanischen Hymenopteren, II. Verh. zool.-bot. Ges. Wien, 56: 43-59.
Brauns, H. 1911. Die Nysson-Arten Südafrikas. Kaplande (Willomore).

Brothers D.J. 1999. Phylogeny and evolution of wasps, ants and bees (Hymenoptera, Chrysidoidea, Vespoidea and Apoidea) Zoologica Scripta 28: 233–250.

Dollfuss, H. 2017. The Ampulicidae wasps of the “Biologiezentrum-Linz”-collection in Linz, Austria, including the genera Ampulex Jurine, Dolichurus Latreille, and Trirogma Westwood (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Ampulicidae). Linzer biologische Beiträge 49: 441–457.

Finnamore, A.T. & Michener, C.D. 1993. Superfamily Apoidea (pp. 279-357). In GOULET, H. & HUBER, J. (eds). Hymenoptera of the World: an identification guide to families. Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 668 pp.

Gadallah NS. 2020. Biodiversity of the aculeate wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of the Arabian Peninsula: Apoidea (Spheciformes), Ampulicidae. Zootaxa 4754(1): 17–19.

Gess, S.K. & Gess, F.W. 2014. Wasps and bees in southern Africa. SANBI Biodiversity Series 24. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria. 320 pp.

Sharkey, M., 2007. Phylogeny and classification of Hymenoptera. Zootaxa 1668: 521–548.

Sharkey, M. J., Carpenter, J. M., Vilhelmsen, L., Heraty, J., Liljeblad, J., Dowling, A. P.G., Schulmeister, S., Murray, D., Deans, A. R., Ronquist, F., Krogmann, L. and Wheeler, W. C. 2012. Phylogenetic relationships among superfamilies of Hymenoptera. Cladistics 28: 80–112. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-0031.2011.00366.x

Soliman AM, Gadallah NS, Ohl M & Dhafer HMA. 2017. Revision of the digger wasps of the Ampulicidae and Heterogynaidae (Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia, with the description of a new species of the enigmatic genus Heterogyna Nagy. Journal of Natural History 51: 2057-2085. DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2017.1355492.

Links

CATALOG OF WORLD SPHECIDAE sensu lato (= Apoidea excluding bees) compiled by
Wojciech J. Pulawski (California Academy of Sciences).

Credits

Photographs © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa) or © Dion Brandt.


Web author Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

 

Citation: van Noort, S. 2024. WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the World. URL: www.waspweb.org (accessed on <day/month/year>).

Copyright 2004-2024 Iziko Museums of South Africa

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