# Sphecius
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{{Short description|Genus of wasps}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Cicada killer wasps
| image = Cicada killer (73200).jpg
| image_caption = [Eastern cicada killer](/source/Eastern_cicada_killer)
| taxon = Sphecius
| authority = [Dahlbom](/source/Anders_Gustaf_Dahlbom), 1844
| type_species = ''[Sphecius speciosus](/source/Sphecius_speciosus)''
| type_species_authority = ([Drury](/source/Dru_Drury), 1773)
| display_parents = 2
| subdivision_ranks = [Species](/source/Species)
| subdivision = Some 21, see text
| synonyms = {{Taxon list
| ''Hogardia'' | Dufour, 1841 (Unav.)
| ''Hogardia'' | Lepeletier, 1845
| ''Sphecienus'' | Patton, 1879
| ''Nothosphecius'' | Pate, 1936}}
}}
'''Cicada killer wasps''' ([genus](/source/genus) '''''Sphecius''''') are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory [wasp](/source/wasp)s. They are so named because they hunt [cicada](/source/cicada)s and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them. Twenty-one [species](/source/species) worldwide are recognized. The highest diversity occurs in the region between [North Africa](/source/North_Africa) and [Central Asia](/source/Central_Asia).
In North America, the term "cicada killer wasp" usually refers to the most well-known species, the [eastern cicada killer](/source/eastern_cicada_killer) (''S. speciosus''). A few other related genera also are sometimes referred to as "cicada killers", e.g. ''[Liogorytes](/source/Liogorytes)'' in South America and ''[Exeirus](/source/Exeirus)'' in Australia.
The use of cicadas as prey is in keeping with the typical behavior of the tribe [Bembicini](/source/Bembicini), which tend to specialize on various members of the [Cicadomorpha](/source/Cicadomorpha) as prey items.
==Species==
[[File:Cicada Wasp (4).jpg|thumb|''[Sphecius speciosus](/source/Sphecius_speciosus)'' with prey. (Fitchburg, Massachusetts, USA)
]]
This list of species is probably complete as of March 31, 2009. It has been adapted from the [https://archive.today/20131005142014/http://research.calacademy.org/redirect?url=http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/Entomology_Resources/Hymenoptera/index.html%22 Catalog of ''Sphecius'' species] (California Academy of Sciences). Notable [subspecies](/source/subspecies) are also given.
More recently, it has been suspected that the [western cicada killer](/source/western_cicada_killer) (''[S. grandis](/source/Sphecius_grandis)'') represents more than one species. Also, some evidence suggests that either the [eastern cicada killer](/source/eastern_cicada_killer) (''[S. speciosus](/source/Sphecius_speciosus)'') has a subspecies or closely related species that [mimics](/source/mimicry) the [Pacific cicada killer](/source/Pacific_cicada_killer) (''[S. convallis](/source/Sphecius_convallis)''). Alternatively, when they were already well distinct species, significant [hybrid](/source/hybrid_(biology))ization has occurred between them, though not enough to fully overcome their [reproductive isolation](/source/reproductive_isolation).[{{cite journal |last1=Hastings |first1=Jon M. |last2=Schultheis |first2=Patrick J. |last3=Whitson |first3=Maggie |last4=Holliday |first4=Charles W. |last5=Coelho |first5=Joseph R. |last6=Mendell |first6=Angela M. |display-authors=1 |date=2008 |title=DNA barcoding of new world cicada killers (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae) |journal=[Zootaxa](/source/Zootaxa) |volume=1713 |pages=27–38 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1713.1.2 |url=http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/zt01713p038.pdf }}]
* ''[Sphecius antennatus](/source/Sphecius_antennatus)'' (Klug, 1845) (Southern and Eastern Europe, Middle East, Central Asia)
* ''[Sphecius citrinus](/source/Sphecius_citrinus)'' Arnold, 1929 (South Africa)
* ''[Sphecius claripennis](/source/Sphecius_claripennis)'' Morice, 1911 (North Africa)
* ''[Sphecius conicus](/source/Sphecius_conicus)'' (Germar, 1817) (Balkans, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Greece)
** ''Sphecius conicus creticus'' de Beaumont, 1965 (Crete)
** ''Sphecius conicus syriacus'' (Klug, 1845) (Syria to China)
* ''[Sphecius convallis](/source/Sphecius_convallis)'' Patton, 1879 – Pacific cicada killer (Mexico: Baja California, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Sonora; USA: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington)
* ''[Sphecius grandidieri](/source/Sphecius_grandidieri)'' (de Saussure, 1887) (Madagascar)
* ''[Sphecius grandis](/source/Sphecius_grandis)'' (Say, 1823) – western cicada killer (Costa Rica; Mexico: Baja California, Chihuahua, Jalisco, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Yucatán; Nicaragua; USA: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Washington)
* ''[Sphecius hemixanthopterus](/source/Sphecius_hemixanthopterus)'' Morice, 1911 (Algeria)
* ''[Sphecius hogardii](/source/Sphecius_hogardii)'' (Latreille, 1806) – Caribbean cicada killer (Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, USA: southern Florida)
** ''Sphecius hogardii bahamas'' Krombein, 1953 (Bahama Islands: Bimini)
* ''[Sphecius intermedius](/source/Sphecius_intermedius)'' Handlirsch, 1895 (Algeria)
* ''[Sphecius lutescens](/source/Sphecius_lutescens)'' (Radoszkowski, 1877) (Central Asia)
* ''[Sphecius malayanus](/source/Sphecius_malayanus)'' Handlirsch, 1895 (Indonesia: Timor, Sumbava)
* ''[Sphecius milleri](/source/Sphecius_milleri)'' R.Turner, 1915 (Zambia)
** ''Sphecius milleri aurantiacus'' Arnold, 1940 (Ethiopia)
* ''[Sphecius nigricornis](/source/Sphecius_nigricornis)'' (Dufour, 1838) (Southern and Eastern Europe, North Africa)
* ''[Sphecius pectoralis](/source/Sphecius_pectoralis)'' (F.Smith, 1856) (Australia)
* ''[Sphecius persa](/source/Sphecius_persa)'' Gussakovskij, 1933 (Iran, Afghanistan)
* ''[Sphecius quartinae](/source/Sphecius_quartinae)'' (Gribodo, 1884) (Guinea, Somalia)
* ''[Sphecius schulthessi](/source/Sphecius_schulthessi)'' Roth, 1951 (North Africa)
* ''[Sphecius speciosus](/source/Sphecius_speciosus)'' (Drury, 1773) – Eastern cicada killer (Central and North America: Honduras to Ontario, Canada)
* ''[Sphecius spectabilis](/source/Sphecius_spectabilis)'' (Taschenberg, 1875) – [South American cicada killer](/source/South_American_cicada_killer) (Brazil, Argentina)
* ''[Sphecius uljanini](/source/Sphecius_uljanini)'' (Radoszkowski, 1877) (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran)
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
== External links ==
{{Commons}}
* [http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/beneficial/cicada_killers.htm cicada killers, ''Sphecius'' spp.] on the [UF](/source/University_of_Florida) / [IFAS](/source/Institute_of_Food_and_Agricultural_Sciences) Featured Creatures Web site
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2710050}}
Category:Bembicidae
Category:Biological pest control wasps
Category:Taxa named by Anders Gustaf Dahlbom
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sphecius](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphecius) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphecius?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.