Sphecius speciosus

North America: Canada , Mexico and the Eastern States . Central America ( Guatemala , Honduras ) ^{[2] [3]} . Sphecius speciosus prefers lower habitats than close species of Sphecius convallis and S. grandis , but higher than S. hogardii . The average habitat heights for S. grandis are 755 m ± 23.3 m, while in S. speciosus it is 219 m ± 4.7 m, in S. convallis it is 582 m ± 30.9 m, and in species S hogardii (18 m ± 5 m) ^[4] .

Large brightly colored wasps (length from 3 to 5 cm). Abdomen S. speciosus with yellow spots on 1-3 segments. Coloring is mainly black (parts of the chest and abdominal tergite I are red). Similar species of wasps: S. grandis , S. hogardii , S. convallis , S. spectabilis ^[2] .

They hunt for cicadas (Cicadidae), which are stung, paralyzed with poison and delivered to the nest. Adults feed on nectar and sap of plants ( glanders ) ^[5] . Nest in sandy soil. S. speciosus breeding tunnels usually have a characteristic U-shaped collar of loose soil around the inlet. Individual tunnels can be from 76 to 177 cm long and can extend from 30 to 38 cm below the surface. The first camera is located about 30 cm or so from the entrance. The tunnel has an average of 15 lateral egg-shaped chambers, each of which contains from 1 to 3 paralyzed cicadas and an egg that matures in 2–3 days. The wasp larva feeds for about 10 days, leaving only the outer shell of the cicada. In the fall, the larva weaves a silky case around itself and prepares for winter. The development cycle will be completed when the young wasps appear next summer. There is one generation every year ^{[6] [7] [8]} . The list of prey includes various types of cicadas, including representatives of 5 genera ( Diceroprocta , Magicicada , Neocicada , Quesada , Tibicen ), and more than two dozen species ( D. cinctifera, D. olympusa, D. viridifascia, D. vitripennis; Magicicada cassinii , M. septendecim; Neocicada hieroglyphica, N. h. Johannis; Quesada gigas; Tibicen auletes, T. canicularis, T. davisi, T. dealbatus, T. dorsatus, T. figuratus, T. linnei, T. lyricen, T. lyricen engelhardti, T. lyricen virescens, T. pruinosus, T. resh, T. resonans, T. robinsonianus, T. similaris, T. tibicen, T. tibicen australis, T. walkeri, T. walkeri pronotalis, T. winnemanna ) . The most frequent prey are cicadas of the genus Tibicen ( T. canicularis , T. linnei , T. lyricen , T. pruinosus , and T. tibicen , including T. chloromerus , the younger synonym of the species T. tibicen ), which together make up 88% of all caught copies (Holliday et al. 2009) ^[1] . There is intraspecific kleptoparasitism ^[9] , as well as interspecific theft of prey in birds (for example, such as the Californian earthen cuckoo , royal tyrants ) ^[10] .

Life expectancy is about half a moon for males and about a month for females ^[11] .

Females are more tolerant of their conspecific nearest neighbors than females from more distant holes. Wasps react differently to their neighbors, nesting within one meter and penetrating their nesting mink. This reaction to them differs depending on certain conditions. When outsiders (wasps-females of their own species) larger than their size penetrate into their nest, the reaction will be more aggressive if there is food in the form of paralyzed large cicada in their nest. In the case of the penetration of a larger or smaller neighbor wasp, but in the absence of food in the nest, the reaction will not be aggressive. An aggressive reaction involves biting the mandibles and stinging ^[12] .

Females are almost twice as large as males, however, the ratio of wing muscles to body weight is the same for both sexes. About 10% of females catch prey larger than themselves and therefore cannot carry it in flight. In such cases, females climb from prey to vertical objects (branches) and from there plan to the nest ^[13] .

Males appear earlier than females and compete with each other for territory in breeding colonies, where they will mate. Some males appear to exhibit territorial behavior. The average weight and size of successfully mating males were slightly higher than that of small losers (measured body weight, wing length and width of mesoscutum). Although successful males were larger than a random sample from the general male population, they were not significantly larger than unsuccessful males in the studied clusters. Apparently, small males are either avoided or excluded from mating clusters ^{[14] [15]} .

Loud (up to 72 dB, measured at a distance of 3 cm from the dorsal side of the chest) defensive buzz produced with a large number of harmonious and random sound pulses. The production of such noise causes a rapid rise in chest temperature to the level optimal for flight ^[5] .

The species was first described in 1773 by the English entomologist Drew Drury ( Dru Drury , 1725-1804) under the original name Sphex speciosus . It is one of the five species of the genus Sphecius in North America ^[2]

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  Sphecius speciosus

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  Sphecius speciosus

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  Sphecius speciosus (digging mink)

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  Sphecius speciosus (female with booty sat on the hand)

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  Sphecius speciosus with prey

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  Sphecius speciosus infestation (mink)

• Bohart, RM & Menke, AS 1976 . Sphecid Wasps of the World: a Generic Revision. - Berkeley: Univ. California Press. - ix, 695 pp.
• Evans, Ensign Howard. The Sand Wasps: Natural History and Behavior. - Harvard University Press , 2007. - ISBN 0-674-02462-1 .
• Resh, Vincent H. Encyclopedia of Insects. - Elsevier , 2009. - ISBN 0-12-586990-8 .
• Phillips, Steven J. A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert. - Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum , 1999. - ISBN 0-520-21980-5 .
• Vander Wall, Stephen B. Food hoarding in animals. - University of Chicago Press , 1990. - ISBN 0-226-84735-7 .

• Prof. Chuck Holliday's cicada killer page , Dept. of Biology, Lafayette College
• Prof. Joe Coelho's cicada killer page
• Dick Walton's Solitary Wasps Page with video Sphecius speciosus
• Australian cicada killers , genus Exeirus
• Image of Australian cicada killer wasp Exeirus lateritius ( CSIRO Entomology website)
• Food and beverage products
• Sphecius genus (English) . calacademy.org. The appeal date is August 16, 2018.
• List of species of the genus Sphecius (English) . www.biolib.cz. The appeal date is August 16, 2018.