3-spotted Sand Wasp
S1, Female, Face
Ellura
3-spotted Sand Wasp
S1, Female, Leg Spines & Stripes
 
                 
3-spotted Sand Wasp (Bembix lamellata)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Ant Bee Wasps (Hymenoptera)
Family: Square-headed Wasp (Wasp: Crabronidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: 3-spotted Sand Wasp (Bembix lamellata)
This Photo:     🔍S1, Female, Wing Venation🔎

Thank you Kerri-Lee Harris for identifying and David Barros Muniz (David_Bio) for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
1st Live Photo on-line:
~13mm long Female.
We called this a Brown-mullet Sand Wasp, then when processing the images discovered the brown mullet is just sand caught in it's hairs.
It does have 3 pairs of distinct white spots under it's unusually black abdomen though.
Kerri-Lee posted the important diagnostic features & locations of S1 for us:
"This is an excellent match for B. lamellata, including:
  • high centre of vertex (level or just exceeding height of the eyes)
  • front basitarsus slender, narrowly blackened along the outer margin, with 7 amber pecten spines
  • clypeus protruding, but gently rounded in profile; wholly pale yellow-white
  • mandible strongly curved apically
  • metasomal bands interrupted medially, the one on T1 nearly straight, those T2-4 wider and sinuous
  • lateral white spots on S2-4
  • large yellow spot on mesopleura
Overall, the colour pattern matches, as does the size. And the distribution too, which includes inland areas of southeastern SA and western Victoria."

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.

Copyright © 2022-2025 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 12-Jan-2022
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.