Bembix fraudulenta Arnold, 1929

Posterior margin of the pronotum, tegulae, posterior margin of the scutellum, and the abdominal tergites are lemon yellow. The base of the first tergite, and bisinuate basal bands on the second and third are black. In females, the tergites are pale greenish yellow excepting the basal portions of the first and second which are lemon yellow. Wings hyaline, veins brown.

Original description with figures in:
Arnold G (1929) The Sphegidae of South Africa. Part 13. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 13.
https://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/Entomology_Resources/Hymenoptera/sphecidae/copies/Arnold_1929b.pdf

This species is illustrated in:
Gess F, Gess S 2014. Geographical distributions of Bembix (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae, Bembicinae) in southern Africa, with notes on biology. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 36: 53–130, doi: 10.3897/JHR.36.6491
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/a-Bembix-spp-diversipennis-female-male-b-flavicincta-female-c-fraudulenta_fig6_268818545

Distribution: A strictly coastal species, known from coastal Mozambique and South Africa (Kwazulu-Natal, Eastern Cape).

Biology: At Rietrivier Mouth, Kenton-on-Sea and Boknes the species was found frequenting the first line of supra-littoral dunes and visiting the flowers of dune plants.
Nesting: Likely nesting in the supra-littoral dunes.
Prey: Recorded taking a Mydas fly (Nomoneuroides natalensis)

All Bembix spp. are inhabitants of sandy soil, in which they excavate nesting burrows (females) or a simple sleeping chamber (males), leading to their common name of ‘sand wasps’. Bembix nests are a tubular chamber dug at an angle into the soil, terminating in a small ovular cell that eventually contains a single egg or developing larva and a stockpile of insect prey, usually dipterans, stung and paralyzed by the nest-owning female. This stockpile serves as a food source for the larva. The nest is regularly attended by the female, who continues to hunt and store insect prey until the larva has nearly completed its growth, a strategy known as progressive provisioning. At this point the female seals off the nest cell and either digs out an additional cell off of a new branch of the nest or else excavates a new nest entirely.

Floral associations: Convolvulaceae (Ipomoea pes-caprae); Rubiaceae (Phylohydrax carnosa); Asteraceae (Gazania sp.); Aizoaceae (Mesembryanthema).

iNat observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/196445289

Publicado el 31 de enero de 2024 a las 11:56 AM por traianbertau