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FAMILY SPHECIDAE - Mud-Daubers, Sand Wasps
This page contains pictures and information about Mud-Daubers and Sand Wasps that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
Species in this family, Sphecidae, are solitary hunting wasps. Female wasp make nest in soil or build mud cells for her young. She paralyses host arthropod, usually other insects or spiders, by her sting. The sting is a modified ovipositor which injects venom paralyses but not kill the host. She keep the hosts in the nest and lay egg on hosts body. Larva hatches and feeds externally on prey. Larvae are legless and grub-like.
Adults are from small to large in size and some species have long slender waist. Adult wasps feed on nectar or honeydew. All wasps in this family will sting, although they are not aggressive. They usually found hunting on ground of on leaves, or sometimes found dragging prey to their nest.
Sphecidae is the only family in superfamily Sphecoidea. The Sphecoidea and Apoidea are closely related and some authors combine them in a single superfamily. They differ from Apoidea in lacking branched hairs and broad, flattened hind legs.
We found quite a number of wasps in this family and listed in the following pages;
Subfamily Sphecinae - Thread-waisted Wasps
Subfamily Larrinae
Subfamily Nyssoninae - Sand Wasps
Subfamily Philanthinae - Digger Wasps
Unknown Sphecid Wasps
- Reference:
- 1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, pp 989.
- 2. Insects of Australia and New Zealand - R. J. Tillyard, Angus & Robertson, Ltd, Sydney, 1926, p297.
