Insects › Square-headed Wasps, Sand Wasps, and Allies
Pacific Cicada-killer Wasp
Sphecius convallis
25 photos
Study shows up to four per card, from different observers, so you learn the species rather than one picture. Heart the good ones and swap any you do not like.
Photos you add are credited to you, and you keep the copyright.
Easily confused with
Western Cicada-killer WaspSphecius grandis
Eastern Cicada-killer WaspSphecius speciosusStudy checks a spoken answer against these, and tells you which one you named.
Where it is recorded
| United States | 388 |
|---|---|
| Arizona | 164 |
| California | 161 |
| Nevada | 33 |
| Mexico | 17 |
| Texas | 13 |
| New Mexico | 7 |
| Nuevo Leon | 4 |
| Baja California Sur | 3 |
| Colorado | 2 |
Counts show where people looked, not only where it lives.
Traits
Physical
- ExoskeletonHas a hard external skeletonFrom its classification
Practical
- StingingCan deliver a painful stingFrom its classification
Group and habits
- Animal pollinatorDescends from an animal lineage whose members commonly pollinate flowers.Inferred from its group
Classification
| Kingdom | Animals · Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Arthropods · Arthropoda |
| Class | Insects · Insecta |
| Order | Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies · Hymenoptera |
| Family | Square-headed Wasps, Sand Wasps, and Allies · Crabronidae |
| Genus | Cicada-killer Wasps · Sphecius |
Sources
- Names, taxonomy and observation counts: www.inaturalist.org
- Photos and recordings: the creator and source are on each one.
- How much to rely on each source
Remember the name next time.
Practise Pacific Cicada-killer Wasp with real photos from different observers. Say the name out loud, and it comes back just before you would forget it.