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Bembicinae

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Bembicinae
Bembix sp.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Crabronidae
Subfamily: Bembicinae
Latreille, 1802[1]
Tribes

Alyssontini
Bembicini
Gorytini
Heliocausini
Nyssonini
Stizini

The Bembicinae comprise a large subfamily of crabronid wasps that includes over 80 genera and over 1800 species which have a worldwide distribution. They excavate nests in the soil, frequently in sandy soils, and store insects of several orders, for example Diptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera and Odonata in the burrows. Some species are kleptoparasites of other Bembicinae.[2] The different subgroups of Bembicinae are each quite distinctive, and rather well-defined, with clear morphological and behavioral differences between them.[2]

Bembicines were originally a part of a single large family, the Sphecidae, then for many years were treated as a separate family, and recently have been placed back into a larger family, the Crabronidae this time.[2]

Saygorytes phaleratus
Sand wasp in its habitat, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

References

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  1. ^ Sandor Christiano Buys (2012). "Bembicine wasps (Hymenoptera: Crabronidae: Bembicinae: Bembicini, except Gorytina) of Rio de Janeiro State (southeast Brazil): inventory of species and notes on biology". Biota Neotropica. 12 (3): 73–77. doi:10.1590/S1676-06032012000300007.
  2. ^ a b c Howard Ensign Evans; Kevin M. O'Neill (2007). The Sand Wasps: Natural History and Behavior. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674024625.
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