Sand Wasp
Male, dorsal
Ellura
Sand Wasp
Male, profile
 
                      
Sand Wasp (Bembix sp ES05)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Ant Bee Wasps (Hymenoptera)
Family: Square-headed Wasp (Wasp: Crabronidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Sand Wasp (Bembix sp ES05)
This Photo:     🔍Female, dorsal🔎

Thank you Milo van Loon for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~15-17mm long. Notice the "keel" or abdominal ridge under the abdomen of the male. It seems to have an ovi-positor or stinger, but this seems to be part of a 3 pronged anal appendage that some male wasps have.
It also lacks the strong digging spines on it's legs of the female. Milo said "Females have 6 body segments and 12 antennae segments, while males have 7 and 13."

As an aside, we often talk about Flagellomeres on this page. For wasps, the Flagellomeres start after the 2nd antennal segment. So Females have 10 Flagellomeres, while Males have 11; which lines up with Milo's comment about 12 & 13 antennal segments.

Copyright © 2021-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 29-Dec-2021
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.