Cicada Killer

Sphecius speciosus (Drury 1773)

Tanya Dewey, Animal Diversity Web cc-by-nc-sa-3.0

Sphecius speciosus (Cicada Killer) is a species of Hymenoptera in the family crabronid wasps. They are native to The Nearctic and the Palearctic. They visit flowers of Rhus copallinum, button eryngo, Queen Anne's lace, and wild parsnip. They are solitary, diurnal carnivores. Individuals can grow to 50 mm. They have parental care (female provides care). They rely on flight to move around.

URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q737742
Definition: one of the eight terrestrial ecozones constituting the Earth's land surface
Attribution: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecozone_Nearctic.svg

show all records

URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q106447
Definition: largest of the eight ecozones constituting the Earth's surface
Attribution: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palearctic.png

show all records

URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q81875
Definition: organism that eats mostly or exclusively animal tissue
Attribution: Crustacean body sizes

show all records

URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/solitary
Definition: Solitary animals are those that spend a majority of their lives without others of their species, with possible exceptions for mating and raising their young. Antonyms for a solitary animal include a social animal or a colonial animal.
Attribution: https://www.definitions.net/definition/solitary+animal

show all records

URI: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q906470
Definition: animal behavior characterized by activity during the day, with a period of inactivity at night.

show all records

URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/parentalCareFemale
Definition: the female feeds and nurtures offspring
Attribution: Richard M. Sibly, Christopher C. Witt, Natalie A. Wright, Chris Venditti, Walter Jetz, and James H. Brown. 2012. Energetics, lifestyle, and reproduction in birds. PNAS 109(27):10937-10941, doi:10.1073/pnas.1206512109

show all records

URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/NBO_0000367
Definition: self-propelled movement of an organism from one location to another through the air, usually by means of active wing movement

show all records

EOL has data for 29 attributes, including:

Body symmetry
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/body_symmetry
- Definition: overall repetitive or reflective pattern in the body of one individual of this taxon. eg: bilateral symmetry, rotational symmetry, radial symmetry
show all records
bilaterally symmetric
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001324
- Definition: being symmetric about a plane running from frontal end to caudal end (head to tail), and having nearly identical right and left halves
show all records
body length
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/CMO_0000013
- Definition: A measurement of the longest dimension of a body, typically between two distinct ends of the body.
- Attribution: [database_cross_reference: Dorland:Dorlands_Illustrated_Medical_Dictionary--31st_Ed] [database_cross_reference: ISBN:978-1416049982]
show all records
50 mm
body shape
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/BodyShape
show all records
bilaterally symmetric
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001324
- Definition: being symmetric about a plane running from frontal end to caudal end (head to tail), and having nearly identical right and left halves
show all records
developmental mode
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/DevelopmentalMode
- Definition: Broad recognized categories describing development, the process by which organisms grow and mature
show all records
holometabolous
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/holometabolous
- Definition: Development of insects with complete metamorphosis which involves a pupal stage.
show all records
diet includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/Diet
- Definition: Information about the items eaten by this organism.
show all records
insects
- URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1390
- Definition: a class of mainly terrestrial arthropods
show all records
ecomorphological guild
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/EcomorphologicalGuild
- Definition: organisms that share certain morphological traits due to adaptation to similar environments and ecological roles
show all records
fossorial
- URI: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2850019
- Definition: organism that is adapted to digging and life underground.
show all records
geographic distribution includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/Present
- Definition: This organism is known to be present in this location or region. Not exclusive; other regions may also be reported.
show all records
United States
- URI: http://www.geonames.org/6252001
show all records
mating system
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/MatingSystem
show all records
polygynous
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ECOCORE_00000065
- Definition: One male has an exclusive mating relationship with two or more females
show all records
native range includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/NativeRange
- Definition: Lists jurisdictions in which a given organism is a member of the undisturbed fauna or flora.
show all records
The Nearctic
- URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q737742
- Definition: one of the eight terrestrial ecozones constituting the Earth's land surface
- Attribution: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecozone_Nearctic.svg
show all records
social system
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/SocialSystem
- Definition: Description of the relationships among individuals within a population of organisms, including reproductive relationships (mating system), relationships within each sex, adult – young interactions, helpers and cooperation (group living).
show all records
solitary
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/solitary
- Definition: Solitary animals are those that spend a majority of their lives without others of their species, with possible exceptions for mating and raising their young. Antonyms for a solitary animal include a social animal or a colonial animal.
- Attribution: https://www.definitions.net/definition/solitary+animal
show all records
trophic guild
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/TrophicGuild
- Definition: A group of species that exploit the same food resources, and/or use the same feeding or foraging methods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_(ecology)
show all records
nectarivore
- URI: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q120880
- Definition: organism that consumes sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants
show all records
type specimen repository
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/TypeSpecimenRepository
- Definition: The institution that holds a type specimen for a given species. The recommended best practice is to use the identifier in a collections registry such as the Biodiversity Collections Index (http://www.biodiversitycollectionsindex.org/).
show all records
NHMUK

Known occurrences, collected specimens and observations of cicada killer. View this species on GBIF

Tanya Dewey, Animal Diversity Web cc-by-nc-sa-3.0