Sphex languedocian or sand wasp
A solitary wasp, Sphex occitanica, dragging a large wingless locustid (Ephippiger) to nest. After Fabre (natural size)

According to Fauna Europa Sphex occitanica Lepeletier & Serville, 1828 is now Palmodes occitanicus (Lepeletier & Serville, 1828)

Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Sphecidae
Genus: Palmodes
Species:
P. occitanicus
Binomial name
Palmodes occitanicus
Synonyms[1][2]
  • Sphex occitanica (Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau & Audinet-Serville, 1828)
  • Sphex occitanicus (Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau and Serville, 1828)

Palmodes occitanicus is a species of thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae.

The reproduction behaviour of this species (called the "Sphex languedocien" at the time) is described in detail by the French entomologist, Jean-Henri Fabre, in 1879,[3] in a story intended to convince people that animals are not rational. The wasp normally stings and paralyzes an Ephippiger or related orthopteran prey, and brings it back to its burrow; it leaves the prey item near the entrance, enters the burrow, lays an egg, and then drags the prey item into the burrow where the egg can hatch nearby and the wasp larva can feed. If the prey item is moved while the wasp is in the nest, it will exit, become confused, then grab and reposition the prey near the entrance, and reenter the nest; if the prey is moved again before the wasp reemerges, it will continue the process indefinitely.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ Wojciech J. Pulawski (10 June 2010). "Palmodes" (PDF). Catalog of Sphecidae sensu lato. California Academy of Sciences.
  2. ↑ Ljubmirov, Toshko; Yildrim, Erol (2008). Annotated Catalogue of the Ampulicidae, Sphecidae, and Crabronidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Turkey. Pensoft Publishers. p. 24. ISBN 9789546423122.
  3. 1 2 Jean-Henri Fabre, 1879, Le Sphex languedocien, Souvenirs entomologiques, Paris, 324 pages (read on line)
  4. ↑ "Sand Wasp". ENT 425 – General Entomology. Retrieved 13 September 2019.


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