Biosystematic Studies of Ceylonese Wasps, XII: Behavioral and Life History Notes on Some Sphecidae (Hymenoptera: Sphecoidea)

Krombein, Karl V. Biosystematic Studies of Ceylonese Wasps, XII: Behavioral and Life History Notes on Some Sphecidae (Hymenoptera: Sphecoidea). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, number 387, 30 pages, 5 figures, 1984.—The wasps discussed here are solitary, ground-nesting species that construct unicellular nests. Notes are presented insofar as possible on nest construction and architecture, selection and storage of prey, life history, male activity, and associated commensals, predators, and parasites. Ammophila laevigata Smith stores up to three paralyzed caterpillars per cell for its larva. The prey belong to the Satyridae and Noctuidae. Ammophila atripes Smith stores a single larger noctuid caterpillar, perhaps that of a cutworm. Sometimes the female acts as a brigand, digging up the caterpillar stored by another female, destroying the egg of that wasp, then reburying the caterpillar in the original nest and laying her own egg upon it. Sphex obscums (Fabricius) preys only upon nymphal or adult tettigoniid grasshoppers belonging to the genus Conocephalus, practices mass provisioning, and provides 4-6 prey per nest. Sphex sericeus fabrieii Dahlbom also practices mass provisioning; it was observed to have provided four prey in one completed nest. It was unique in that one female made an empty accessory burrow adjacent to the true nest as has been reported for another subspecies of S. sericeus (Fabricius). Most Ceylonese prey records are of Gryllacrididae as in several other subspecies of S. sericeus, but a few Ceylonese females provided Gryllidae or Tettigoniidae. Sphex subtruncatus krombeini Vecht is a new taxon described by him in the appendix. It differs biologically from the other observed Ceylonese Sphex in that it practices progressive provisioning, that is, the egg is placed on the first prey specimen and additional prey are provided daily after the egg hatches. This wasp preys predominantly upon a wide variety of tettigoniid grasshoppers. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year. SERIES COVER DESIGN: The coral Montastrea cavernosa (Linnaeus). Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Krombein, Karl V. Biosystematic studies of Ceylonese wasps, XII. (Smithsonian contributions to zoology ; no. 387) Bibliography: p. 1. Sphecidae. 2. Insects—Sri Lanka. I. Title. II. Series. QL1.S54 no. 387 591s [595.79] 83-600269 [QL568.S7]