Species Sphex cognatus Smith, 1856

• Sphex cognata 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. [248].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 21.692 ♀, Australia.
• Sphex amator 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. [246].

  Type data:

   Holotype OUM ♂, Australia.
• Sphex formosa 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. [254].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 21.694 ♀, Seram, Indonesia.
• Sphex opulenta 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. [250].

  Type data:

   Holotype BMNH 21.693 ♂, Richmond River, NSW.

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• van der Vecht, J. 1973. Contribution to the taxonomy of the Oriental and Australian Sphecini (Hymenoptera, Sphecoidea). Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie Wetenschappen c 76: 341-353 [342]

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia

IBRA

NSW, Qld, SA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), NSW North Coast (NNC), Pine Creek (PCK), Sydney Basin (SB), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Wet Tropics (WT)

Distribution References

Ecological Descriptors

Adult: burrower, volant.

Larva: predator, sedentary, soil dweller.

Extra Ecological Information

Prey Orthoptera (Tettigoniidae).

General References

Evans, H.E., Hook, A.W. & Matthews, R.W. 1982. Nesting behaviour of Australian wasps of the genus Sphex (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Journal of Natural History 16: 219-225 (biology)

Ribi, W.A. 1978. A unique hymenopteran compound eye, the retina fine structure of the digger wasp Sphex cognatus Smith (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Ökologie und Geographie der Tiere 100: 299-342 (eye structure)

Ribi, W.A. & Ribi, L. 1979. Natural history of the Australian digger wasp Sphex cognatus Smith (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). Journal of Natural History 13: 693-701

History of changes