One of the Smallest Digger Wasps

Parental Investment and Sexual Dimorphism in Digger Wasps (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)

'Candidatus Streptomyces philanthi', an endosymbiotic streptomycete in the antennae of Philanthus digger wasps.

Symbiotic interactions with bacteria are essential for the survival and reproduction of many insects. The European beewolf (Philanthus triangulum, Hymenoptera, Crabronidae) engages in a highly specific association with bacteria of the genus Streptomyces that appears to protect beewolf offspring against infection by pathogens. Using transmission and scanning electron microscopy, the bacteria wer...

A revision of the Australian digger wasps in the genus Sphex (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)

The Australian species of the sphecid wasp genus Sphex are revised. Thirty-five species are recognized, of which 11 are new: Sphex argentatissimus, Sphex brevipetiolus, Sphex caelebs, Sphex corporosus, Sphex flammeus, Sphex fortunatus, Sphex gracilis, Sphex imporcatus, Sphex jucundus, Sphex latilobus and Sphex pretiosus. A dichotomous key covering all Australian species of the genus has been ge...

Can soda ash dumping grounds provide replacement habitats for digger wasps (Hymenoptera, Apoidea, Spheciformes)?

BACKGROUND Published sources document a loss of biodiversity at an extreme rate, mainly because natural and semi-natural ecosystems are becoming fragmented and isolated, thus losing their biological functions. These changes significantly influence biological diversity, which is a complex phenomenon that changes over time. Contemporary ecologists must therefore draw attention to anthropogenic re...

Morphology, Chemistry and Function of the Postpharyngeal Gland in the South American Digger Wasps Trachypus boharti and Trachypus elongatus

Microbes pose severe threats to animals as competitors or pathogens and strongly affect the evolution of life history traits like parental care. Females of the European beewolf Philanthus triangulum, a solitary digger wasp, provision their offspring with paralyzed honeybees and embalm them with the secretion from large postpharyngeal glands (PPG) that contain mainly unsaturated hydrocarbons. Th...