Sphexn.
/sfɛks/ Entomology.attributive.1807 J. E. Smith Introd. Physiol. & Systematical Bot. 196 An insect of the Sphex or Ichneumon kind.1815 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. (1818) I. xi. 351 Similar laborious exertions are not confined to the bee or Sphex tribe.1897 Contemp. Rev. June 869 A sphex-wasp stings into helplessness the caterpillars it has selected.
A genus of digger-wasps; a wasp of this genus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > the wasps > super family Sphecoidea or family Sphecidae > genus or member of genus Sphex
Sphex1797
sphexide1828
gravedigger1847
1797 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 689/2 Sphex, Ichneumon Wasp, or Savage.
1803 W. Bingley Animal Biogr. III. 333 Many species of the Sphex are common in England;...their larvæ feed upon dead insects, in the bodies of which they are produced from the egg.
1857 P. H. Gosse Omphalos 319 Immense tribes of solitary Bees, Wasps, and Spheges.
1881 C. Darwin Form. Veg. Mould 93 A sphex..stocks its nest with paralysed grasshoppers.
Derivatives
ˈsphexide n. a wasp belonging or related to the genus Sphex.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Hymenoptera > [noun] > suborder Apocrita, Petiolata, or Heterophaga > group Aculeata (stinging) > the wasps > super family Sphecoidea or family Sphecidae > genus or member of genus Sphex
Sphex1797
sphexide1828
gravedigger1847
1828 J. Stark Elements Nat. Hist. II. 230 In the Hymenoptera, such as wasps, bees, sphexides, &c. the extremity of the abdomen incloses a sting, calculated for attack or defence.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online December 2018).
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n.1797