Australian Journal of
Taxonomy
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Sphex bicolor Fabricius, 1775:352. Type data: type BMNH female. Type locality: Australia (as nova Hollandia); Fabricius, 1781:450 [descr. (in Latin), dist.]; Fabricius, 1787:277 [descr. (in Latin)]; Gmelin, 1790:2732 [descr. (in Latin, dist.]; Fabricius, 1793:217 [descr. (in Latin); dist.]; Zimsen, 1964:387 [note on type].
Figure 4. (a-c) Sphex bicolor female holotype (a) dorsal view (b) lateral view, left side (c) head and fronto-lateral view (d) non-type male, dorsal view. Scale bars: 1mm. Image credit: Xuankun Li
Length 20-40mm; color black and orange; body heavily covered in dense black setae; head of a female with face and vertex orange, except for a black band between ocelli; head of a male with vertex and disc of frons black; propodeum with two distinct tubercles; second metasomal segment with a wide apical black band.
Female
Coloration. Head orange yellow except for a narrow area between the eyes, the end of the mandible, and the occipital region, which are dark/black; mesosoma black; tibiae and tarsi orange, femora black basally, orange at apex; first metasomal segment black, second metasomal segment orange with an apical black band, remainder yellow-orange; wings yellow-orange, with a narrow apical and basal darkening.
Head. Head wider than long, TFD/FD = 1.16; posterior ocelli closer to each other than to the compound eye, POL: OOL = 0.72; frons with the median line reaching median ocellus; apical margin of clypeus straight; clypeus rather short, clypeus length: width = 2.2; labrum on same plain as clypeus concealed to slightly exposed beneath; malar space very short, almost non-existent; first flagellar segment clearly longer than the second.
Mesosoma. Setose, pronotum relatively short, with a very weak median line, its posterior margin strongly angulate; metanotum knobbed; metapostnotum suppressed; propodeum wrinkled across with a median line which is more prominent at the posterior ridge, tuberculate; the dorsal edge of the hind tibia with two rows of spine-bearing scalelike elevations which become less dense towards tarsus, tarsal claws dentate.
Metasoma. Metasoma punctate, pygidium covered by short, abundant setae, metasoma 1.25x length of
mesosoma.
Male
Similar to female except for differences described here: vertex and disc of frons black; clypeus relatively long; first flagellar segment slightly longer than the second; hind tibiae without serration with short spines; body size smaller.
Remarks
The original description of this species by Fabricius, 1775 was based on one sex only (female).
Figure 4. (a-c) Sphex bicolor female holotype (a) dorsal view (b) lateral view, left side (c) head and fronto-lateral view (d) non-type male, dorsal view. Scale bars: 1mm. Image credit: Xuankun Li
Mentions: Pompilus bicolor Fabricius, 1804:198 [comb. nov.; descr. (in Latin); dist.]; Smith, 1863b:132 [dist.]; Smith, 1863a:29 [note, dist.]; Smith, 1871:353 [cat., dist.]; Schulz, 1906:169 [as senior secondary homonym of Pompilus bicolor (Spinola, 1808)]. Salius bicolor Tillyard, 1926:292 [note]; McKeown, 1942:185 [note]. Cryptocheilus bicolor Evans & Matthews, 1973:46 [comb. nov., biol.]; Evans 1981:9 [prey]; Hirst 1992:365 [prey record]; Williams & Adam 1995:54 [list]. Elliot, 2007:20 [cat.].
Prey records: Isopedella pessleri (Thorell, 1870) (as Isopeda pessleri (Thorell)); Isopeda sp. (Sparassidae) (Evans & Matthews, 1973:46–47), Heteropoda jugulans Koch, 1876; Isopeda leishmani Hogg, 1903 (as Isopoda leishmani Hogg) (Sparassidae); Lycosa sp. (Lycosidae) (Evans 1981:9–10), Isopeda canberranaHirst, 1992 (Heteropodidae) (Hirst, 1992).
Distribution: ACT, NSW, QLD, WA, Indonesia, New Zealand (Elliot, 2007).
New records: NT, SA, PNG, Vic.
New host association: Isopedella leai (Hirst) loan from SAM accession number: 32-42650.
Material examined
Holotype image
Type accession number: BMNH (E) #668328, NHMUK 013380164 holotype is from the Banks collection and is in good condition except that the last tarsal segment of the hind legs are missing.