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- ›Sand Wasps
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- ›Spheciina
Cicada-killer Wasps
Sphecius
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 recognized. The highest diversity occurs in the region between North Africa and Central Asia.
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.
21 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Eastern Cicada-killer Wasp
speciesSphecius speciosus
Western Cicada-killer Wasp
speciesSphecius grandis
Pacific Cicada-killer Wasp
speciesSphecius convallis
South American Cicada-killer Wasp
speciesSphecius spectabilis
Sphecius antennatus
speciesSphecius antennatus
Sphecius grandidieri
speciesSphecius grandidieri
Sphecius pectoralis
speciesSphecius pectoralis
Caribbean Cicada-killer Wasp
speciesSphecius hogardii
Sphecius milleri
speciesSphecius milleri
Sphecius nigricornis
speciesSphecius nigricornis
Sphecius conicus
speciesSphecius conicus
Sphecius citrinus
speciesSphecius citrinus
Sphecius schulthessi
speciesSphecius schulthessi
Sphecius quartinae
speciesSphecius quartinae
Sphecius persa
speciesSphecius persa
Sphecius malayanus
speciesSphecius malayanus
Sphecius lutescens
speciesSphecius lutescens
Sphecius intermedius
speciesSphecius intermedius
Sphecius hemixanthopterus
speciesSphecius hemixanthopterus
Sphecius claripennis
speciesSphecius claripennis
Sphecius uljanini
speciesSphecius uljanini
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 Sphecius 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 51956.