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- ›Sphecini

Sphex
Wasps of the genus Sphex (commonly known as digger wasps) are cosmopolitan predators that sting and paralyze prey insects. Sphex is one of many genera in the old digger wasp family Sphecidae (sensu lato), though most apart from the Sphecinae have now been moved to the family Crabronidae. There are over 130 known Sphex species.
16 branches of this genus, most-observed first

Sphex
subgenusSphex

Fernaldina
subgenusFernaldina

Sphex ingens
speciesSphex ingens

Sphex prosper
speciesSphex prosper

Sphex latro
speciesSphex latro

Sphex optimus
speciesSphex optimus

Menkeella
subgenusMenkeella

Sphex oxianus
speciesSphex oxianus

Sphex rugifer
speciesSphex rugifer

Sphex rhodosoma
speciesSphex rhodosoma

Sphex walshae
speciesSphex walshae

Sphex schrottkyi
speciesSphex schrottkyi

Sphex dorycus
speciesSphex dorycus
Sphex brasilianus
speciesSphex brasilianus
Sphex deplanatus
speciesSphex deplanatus
Sphex neoumbrosus
speciesSphex neoumbrosus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Sphex in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 48739.