Superfamily SPHECOIDEA

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Introduction

The Sphecoidea, together with the Vespoidea, are among the largest and most conspicuous aculeate Hymenoptera. The habits of some of the Sphecoidea (mud-nest builders) and of the Vespidae (papernest wasps, hornets) bring them into direct conflict with man, but they are also useful, as biological control agents (preying on other insects, especially larval Lepidoptera) and as potential pollination agents.

The Sphecoidea, commonly known as Mud-daubers and Sand Wasps, are predatory. The females collect insects or other arthropods to feed their larvae. Adults of some species feed on the body fluids of their prey, but in most species the adults require carbohydrates, usually taken as nectar, but sometimes as honeydew or plant sap. These wasps are solitary and in general, after mating, each female constructs a cell (in a burrow in the soil, a previously existing cavity or specially built nest), lays an egg before or after provisioning the cell, seals the cell, and commences another cell. Large nesting aggregations may be formed, especially in soil-nesting species, but these aggregations are not social. The social wasps (Vespidae) show cooperation and at least some division of labour occurs between females (mothers and daughters, or sisters) in the construction and provisioning of their 'paper' nests. Larvae are fed progressively and the cell is not sealed until the larva is ready to pupate. Some species of Sphecidae also show 'subsocial' behaviour: communal nesting or progressive feeding.

Study of the diversity and complexity of behaviour during nest construction and provisioning among these wasps has been undertaken both in the field and laboratory. Studies of the interactions between individuals and division of labour among subsocial and social wasps have contributed to the understanding of the organisation of insect societies and the development of social behaviour. There are, however, comparatively few Australian species whose biology is known, and behavioural research here is hindered by problems in identifying species. Although these two families are among the best known of the Australian wasps, the identity of many species is uncertain. The presence of much type material, often single specimens, in museums outside Australia, the need for redescription of species associated with some of the early nomenclature and description of the unnamed material found in virtually every museum collection has hindered the work essential to a better knowledge of these wasps. A particularly striking example of the problems facing students of Australian wasps is shown by Bembix, a genus of comparatively large, conspicuous species. Although Evans & Matthews (1973) were interested in comparative behaviour, they found that it was first necessary to study the systematics of the genus. Prior to their work it was believed that there were about 35 species of Bembix in Australia; their revision recognised 80 species, 55 of which were described as new. Since then, Evans (1982) has described two new species.

In many species adults emerge, mate and build nests in a few weeks. This short period of activity, which is related to the availability of flowers for nectar, water for nest building, and suitable prey for their larvae, makes systematic collection of the species of any given area quite difficult. In Australia the climatic extremes of drought or flood may be the most significant factor controlling reproduction among these wasps.

The first description of Hymenoptera from Australia was by Fabricius (1775). The only comprehensive published catalogue of Australian Hymenoptera is that of Froggatt (1891, 1892); Australian species have been included in various world catalogues, such as those of Dalla Torre (1894, 1897) and the Genera Insectorum series (Dalla Torre 1904). The modern Hymenopterorum Catalogus series covers comparatively few families as yet though the Palaearctic Eumenidae has been catalogued by van der Vecht & Fischer (1972). Thus, for anyone starting research on Australian wasps, extensive library work is needed to discover which species have been described or recorded from Australia, what revisionary work, if any, has been done and whether any biological studies have been made. The Australian National Insect Collection card catalogue containing all references to Australian Hymenoptera, the revision of Masaridae by Richards (1962), the revision of Australian Vespidae by Richards (1978) and the world generic revision of the Sphecidae by Bohart & Menke (1976) were used as a framework for the compilation of this the Vespoidea and Sphecoidea sections of the Zoological Catalogue of Australia Vol. 2, published in 1985.

CLASSIFICATION

In this revised checklist of Australian Sphecoidea, the classification used by Naumann (1991), has been followed. This classification is based upon the phylogenetic studies of Brothers (1975), Carpenter (1982) and Brothers & Carpenter (1993) that have confirmed that the Sphecoidea (Sphecidae including Ampulicidae) and Apoidea (bee families) form a monophyletic group and the Vespoidea (Vespidae, also including Masaridae and Eumenidae) should be expanded to include the Scolioidea (Scoliidae, Mutillidae, Tiphiidae), Pompiloidea (Rhopalosomatidae, Pompilidae) and Formicoidea (Formicidae) of Riek (1970) and Riek & Cardale (1974). The Ampulicinae is treated as a subfamily of the Sphecidae (Bohart & Menke 1976) and although the Australian genus Sericogaster Westwood, 1835 was believed by early workers to belong in the Sphecidae, it was transferred to the Colletidae (Apoidea) by Menke & Michener (1973) and is not included here.

Acknowledgements

Update
This update of the Sphecidae section of the Zoological Catalogue of Australia database for the Australian Faunal Directory was supported by funds from the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS) to A.A. Calder which is gratefully acknowledged. A.A. Calder would like to thank Josephine Cardale for her help and provision of relevant, recently published literature. I am also indebted to Dr Alice Wells for editorial advice.

This database was updated using the taxonomic-bibliographic software package Platypus that was developed by the Australian Biological Resources Study. The web files were prepared and run using Platypus by Kathy Tsang and Keith Houston.

Zoological Catalogue of Australia
Preparation of the Sphecoidea section of the Zoolgical Catalogue of Australia database, from which the publised work (Cardale 1985) and this section in the Australian Faunal Directory were derived, was initially undertaken as part of Josephine Cardale's work in the Australian National Insect Collection (A.N.I.C.), CSIRO Entomology, Canberra. Full use of their resources and facilities and the assistance of several members of staff is acknowledged: Dr E.F. Riek, formerly of the A.N.I.C., instigated the work on the card catalogue; Dr I.D. Naumann supported and encouraged the original publication of this compilation; Dr K.H.L. Key gave advice on a nomenclatural problem; Dr M.J. Dallwitz developed a computer prompts program (ENCAT) especially for use in the original compilation of this work and Mrs J.E. Pyke was of great assistance in solving data entry problems.

The assistance of the following is also acknowledged with gratitude: Dr J. van der Vecht (Putten, The Netherlands) provided advice on taxonomic problems in the Eumenidae; Dr M.C. Day (BMNH) and Dr H.E. Evans (Colorado State University) assisted in problems in the Vespidae and Sphecidae; information on the types of Vespoidea and Sphecoidea in their collections was provided by Mr E.C. Dahms and Ms G. Sarnes (QM), Dr E.G. Matthews (SAMA), Dr T.F. Houston (WAM), Dr K.L. Walker (NMV), and Mr G.R. Brown (DARI); Mr G.A. Holloway (AM) provided assistance during my visits to that institution.

The Australian Biological Resources Study provided funds for assistance during the preparation of the Catalogue, and I am grateful to Dr D.W. Walton and Dr B. Richardson (Bureau of Flora and Fauna) for their editorial advice.

Limital Area

Distribution data in the Directory is by political and geographic region descriptors and serves as a guide to the distribution of a taxon. For details of a taxon's distribution, the reader should consult the cited references (if any) at genus and species levels.

Australia is defined as including Lord Howe Is., Norfolk Is., Cocos (Keeling) Ils, Christmas Is., Ashmore and Cartier Ils, Macquarie Is., Australian Antarctic Territory, Heard and McDonald Ils, and the waters associated with these land areas of Australian political responsibility. Political areas include the adjacent waters.

Terrestrial geographical terms are based on the drainage systems of continental Australia, while marine terms are self explanatory except as follows: the boundary between the coastal and oceanic zones is the 200 m contour; the Arafura Sea extends from Cape York to 124 DEG E; and the boundary between the Tasman and Coral Seas is considered to be the latitude of Fraser Island, also regarded as the southern terminus of the Great Barrier Reef.

Distribution records, if any, outside of these areas are listed as extralimital. The distribution descriptors for each species are collated to genus level. Users are advised that extralimital distribution for some taxa may not be complete.

 

Excluded Taxa

SPHECIDAE: Palmodes australis (Saussure, 1867).

SPHECIDAE: Palmodes sagax (Kohl, 1890).

SPHECIDAE: Astata australasiae Shuckard, 1838.

 

General References

Bohart, R.M. & Menke, A.S. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World: a Generic Revision. Berkeley : Univ. California Press ix 695 pp.

Brothers, D.J. 1975. Phylogeny and classification of the aculeate Hymenoptera, with special reference to the Mutillidae. University of Kansas Science Bulletin 50: 483-648

Brothers, D.J. & Carpenter, J.M. 1993. Phylogeny of Aculeata: Chrysidoidea and Vespoidea (Hymenoptera). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 2(1): 227-304

Cardale, J.C. 1985. Hymenoptera: Vespoidea and Sphecoidea. pp. 150-303 in Walton, D.W. (ed.). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Hymenoptera: Formicoidea, Vespoidea and Sphecoidea. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service Vol. 2 vi 381 pp.

Carpenter, J.M. 1982. The phylogenetic relationships and natural classification of the Vespoidea (Hymenoptera). Systematic Entomology 7: 11-38

Carpenter, J.M. 1997. Generic classification of the Australian Pollen Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Masarinae). Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 69(4 (supplement)): 384-400 [Date published 15/01/97]

Dalla Torre, C.G. de 1897. Catalogus Hymenopterorum Hucusquea Descriptorum Systematicus et Synonymicus. Fossores (Sphegidae). Leipzig : G. Engelmann Vol. 8 viii 749 pp.

Dalla Torre, K.W. von 1894. Catalogus Hymenopterorum Hucusque Descriptorum Systematicus et Synonymicus. Vol. 9 Vespidae (Diploptera). Leipzig : G. Engelmann 181 pp.

Dalla Torre, K.W. von 1904. Hymenoptera. Fam. Vespidae. Genera Insectorum 19: 1-108

Evans, H.E. 1982. Two new species of Australian Bembix sand wasps, with notes on other species of the genus (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Australian Entomological Magazine 9: 7-12

Evans, H.E. & Matthews, R.W. 1973. Systematics and nesting behavior of Australian Bembix sand wasps (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 20: iv 387 pp.

Fabricius, J.C. 1775. Systema Entomologiae, sistens Insectorum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, adiectis Synonymis, Locis, Descriptionibus, Observationibus. Flensburgi et Lipsiae [= Flensburg & Leipzig] : Kortii xxxii 832 pp. [Date published 17 April]

Froggatt, W.W. 1891. Catalogue of the described Hymenoptera of Australia. Part 1. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 5: 689-762

Froggatt, W.W. 1892. Catalogue of the described Hymenoptera of Australia. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 2 7: 205-248

Gess, S.K. 1996. The Pollen Wasps. Ecology and natural history of the Masarinae. Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press x 340 pp.

Menke, A.S. & Michener, C.D. 1973. Sericogaster Westwood, a senior synonym of Holohesma Michener. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 12: 173-174

Musgrave, A. 1932. Bibliography of Australian Entomology 1775–1930 with biographical notes on authors and collectors. Sydney : Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales viii 380 pp.

Naumann, I.D. 1991. Hymenoptera. pp. 916-1000 in CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers. Melbourne : Melbourne University Press Vol. 2 pp. 543-1137

Richards, O.W. 1962. A Revisional Study of the Masarid Wasps (Hymenoptera, Vespoidea). London : British Museum 294 pp.

Richards, O.W. 1978. The Australian social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 61: 1-132

Riek, E.F. 1970. Hymenoptera. pp. 857-959 in CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers. Carlton : Melbourne University Press xiv 1029 pp.

Riek, E.F. & Cardale, J.C. 1974. Hymenoptera. pp. 107-109 in CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers. Supplement. Carlton : Melbourne University Press 146 pp.

van der Vecht, J. & Fischer, F.C.J. 1972. Palearctic Eumenidae. Hymenopterorum Catalogus 8: 1-199