Red-banded Sand Wasp
Sphex funerarius
A solitary digger wasp found in warm, sandy habitats such as heathland, dunes, open grassland, and disturbed bare ground. Adults feed mainly on nectar, but females hunt crickets and bush-crickets, paralyzing them with a sting and storing them in underground nest cells for their larvae. It is an agile flyer and a capable excavator, using its legs and jaws to open tunnels in loose soil. A notable feature is its reddish abdominal band, which helps distinguish it from many darker sand wasps.
- Type
- Venom / Burrow
- Conservation status
- NE
Growth chain
- ?
- ?
- Red-banded Sand Wasp