Austrogorytes (BEMBICINAE: Bembicini)
Workbook
It was after watching Austrogorytes bellicosus nesting that I really started my journey with the crabronids (see blog post from January 2021). Then in 2023, having sighted three different Austrogorytes species here in the forest, I got serious about recognising species in this genus.
The result? A summary table for the 31 Australian species of this endemic genus, followed by application of my new-found knowledge to the national dataset on iNaturalist. The Austrogorytes adventure is best described in the blog I published at the time:
Another two years on and the project continues, largely in the form of workbook notes and development of tools for use in identifying crabronids from field photos. These can all be accessed from the main hub page:
There may yet be a ‘Part 2’ for Sand Wasp Puzzles, but for now I’m just pulling the pieces together to see how much I can learn.
Genus-level identification
Austrogorytes (CRABRONIDAE: Bembicinae: Bembicini) are not particularly well known. In my earlier blog I referred to them as a ‘rather neglected group of wasps’.
extract from my February 2023 blog Sand Wasp Puzzles
Nor do they have any single stand out feature that would make them easy to recognise. Bohart & Menke (1976) remarked: “Austrogorytes species have much in common, yet the genus shows a great deal of diversity” (p. 498). Bohart subsequently undertook a revision of the genus and described 19 new species in the process (Bohart, 1984).
The statement of diagnosis in Bohart’s revision (1984) is rather telling … most of the distinguishing features are either quite small or indistinct in field photos.
As a result, I usually identify Austrogorytes through a process of eliminating other candidates among the Bembicini.
Diagnosis of the genus Austrogorytes
For identification to genus level:
Species-level identification
Again, my approach to species-level identification is best described in the Sand Wasp Puzzles blog. Here is the summary table prepared as part of that project.
click image to open/download latest version as pdf
Workbook notes for individual species
Bits & pieces
As Bohart’s 1984 work is not open access, I’ve included screen grabs of the key here.
References
Bohart, R.M. & Menke, A.S. 1976. Sphecid Wasps of the World: A generic revision. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Bohart, R.M. 1984. A revision of the genus Austrogorytes Bohart (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). Australian Journal of Zoology, 32: 391-412
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.