Bembix albata Parker 1929
Legs yellow, the basal two-thirds of the femora above, and the basal third below, black; the anterior tibiae with a black streak on the outside. Abdomen pale lemon yellow; the basal half of the first tergite, basal third of the second and the extreme base of the following tergites, black. Head, thorax and first tergite with a long, dense and white pilosity, very apparent when the wasp is viewed from the side. Wings hyaline, veins black.
Original descrption in:
Parker, J. B. 1929. A generic revision of the fossorial wasps of the tribes Stizini and Bembicini, with notes and descriptions of new species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 75 (2776):1–203, 15 pls.. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00963801.75-2776.1
https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/15778
Original description of Bembix albopilosa 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/Bembix-spp-a-albata-female-male-b-albicapilla-female-c-albofasciata-female-male_fig1_268818545
Distribution: A coastal species, known from coastal Namibia and South Africa (Northern Cape).
Nesting: Likely nesting in sandy hummocks.
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: Aizoaceae (Mesembryanthema, Brownanthus kuntzei, Psilocaulon salicornioides and Drosanthemum sp.); Zygophyllaceae (Zygophyllum clavatum and Zygophyllum stapffii).
iNat observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/191089121
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