Species Sceliphron formosum (Smith, 1856)

• Pelopoeus formosus Smith, F. 1856. Catalogue of Hymenopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. Part IV, Sphegidae, Larridae and Crabronidae. London : British Museum pp. 207-497. [230].

  Type data:

   Lectotype BMNH ♀, Port Essington, NT.

  Subsequent designation references:

  Hensen, R.V. 1987. Revision of the subgenus Prosceliphron van der Vecht (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 129: 217-261 [258].
• Sceliphron papuanum Cameron, P. 1906. Hymenoptera of the Dutch expedition to New Guinea in 1904 and 1905. Part I: Thynnidae, Scoliidae, Pompilidae, Sphegidae and Vespidae. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 49: 215-233 [221].

  Type data:

   Holotype ZMUA ♀, Merauke, Irian Jaya (New Guinea), Indonesia.

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Jarrah Forest (JF), Mallee (MAL), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Adult: volant.

Larva: arboreal, predator, sedentary.

Extra Ecological Information

Prey spiders, nest built of mud in sheltered place.

General References

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

Callan, E.M. 1981. Further records of Macrosiagon (Coleoptera: Rhipiphoridae) reared from eumenid and sphecid wasps in Australia. Australian Entomological Magazine 7: 81-83 (parasite)

Naumann, I.D. 1983. The biology of mud nesting Hymenoptera (and their associates) and Isoptera in rock shelters of the Kakadu Region, Northern Territory. Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service Special Publication 10: 127-189 [Date published 31/12/1983]

History of changes