Workbook

Nitela is a cosmopolitan genus, while Auchenophorus is endemic to Australia. They are somewhat alike (forewing with single submarginal cell and single discoidal cell; mesopleuron with hypersternaulus) although the details of the wing venation are diagnostic to genus. Given that many field images will not provide sufficient detail of the wings, the best approach is at species level. There are just seven described Australian species: 4 Nitela; 3 Auchenophorus.

Cover image: photo courtesy of Ged Tranter, inaturalist sighting https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/observations/246455304

Bits & Pieces

* note: according to Bohart & Menke (1976, p. 326), Turner’s 1916 key to species of Auchenophorus “is misleading with respect to color, as a glance at his species descriptions (Turner, 1907) and our material indicates.”

References

Bohart, R.M. & Menke, A.S. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World: a Generic Revision. Berkeley: Univ. California Press

Matthews, R.W. 2000. A new species of Nitela (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Larrinae) from Australia with notes on the nests and prey of two species. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 9(1): 41-47

Turner, R.E. 1907. New species of Sphegidae from Australia. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 7 19: 268-276

Turner, R.E. 1908. Notes on the Australian fossorial wasps of the family Sphegidae, with descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1908: 457-535

Turner, R.E. 1916. Notes on fossorial Hymenoptera, xxiv. On the genus Nitela Latr. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 8 18: 343-345

This is a workbook page … a part of our website where we record the observations and references used in making species identifications. The notes will not necessarily be complete. They are a record for our own use, but we are happy to share this information with others.