Yellow-faced Black Sand Wasp
S2, Female, Thorax
Yellow-faced Black Sand Wasp
S2, Female, Abdomen
Animals
Plants
Info
| Yellow-faced Black Sand Wasp S2, Female, Thorax | | Yellow-faced Black Sand Wasp S2, Female, Abdomen | | ||
Animals Plants Info |
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | ||||||||||||
| Order: | Ant Bee Wasps (Hymenoptera) | |||||||||||||
| Family: | Square-headed Wasp (Wasp: Crabronidae) iNaturalist Observation | |||||||||||||
| Species: | Yellow-faced Black Sand Wasp (Bembix severa)| This Photo: | 🔍S2, Female, Wing Venation🔎 | Thank you Kerri-Lee Harris for identifying and Milo van Loon for helping with the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere 1st Record in SA on Atlas: 1st Live Photo on-line: ~16mm long Male & Female. Notice the front of the legs are the typical yellow Bembix colour, as is the face of the Males; the clypeus (upper) & labrum (lower) in particular. We had the males & females separated on here as the faces are so different, but Kerri-Lee was able to confirm they are the same species for us. The pattern on the abdomen is not hair colour, but pigmentation in the body, as per other Bembix. Also notice the way the the mandibles wrap the face and finally the wing venation is consistent. Black bembix seem to be pretty rare here. We also have the Panda Wasp which is pretty black. Perhaps we are noticing them more now. Notice the difference between the male & female, within one genus. He has the big keel under his abdomen, she doesn't. He as 11 antennal flagellomeres, she has 10. She has slightly longer, and more plentiful, spines on her front legs for digging sand for her nest. The labrium is in front of the Mandibles, rather than tucked up under as usually seen; the labrium can hinge back & forth like this. Kerri-Lee kindly wrote out the important diagnostic features for us (of our S1 male): "An excellent match to the description of this uncommon species, including the following:
She also highlighted "Evans & Matthews (1973) made the following observation: "It is evidently an uncommon species throughout its range, and it may be a somewhat solitary species, as we have never seen more than one or two specimens from any one locality." (p. 163)" It's important to note that Kerri-Lee's notes on features are related to each specific photo series. She has made a more complete Worksheet available on her website to further help separate Bembix wasps to species.
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