Bembix sibilans Handlirsch, 1893

Gess, Friedrich W. & Gess, Sarah K., 2014, Geographical distributions of Bembix (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae, Bembicinae) in southern Africa, with notes on biology, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 36, pp. 53-130 : 96-97

Bembix sibilans Handlirsch Fig. 13f

Bembex sibilans Handlirsch, 1893: 852, pl. 3, fig. 3. Pl. 7, fig. 30, ♂, ♀ (Syntypes, South Africa, Cape Province, no locality, in NMW, ZMHB, TMB, RMCA); Dalla Torre 1897: 514 (in catalogue of world Hymenoptera ); Bingham 1902: 211 (South Africa, Malawi); Arnold 1929: 374, figs 37, 37a, 37b, pl. 6, fig. 31, ♂, ♀ (in revision of southern African Sphecidae ); Arnold 1930: 21 (in checklist of Afrotropical Sphecidae ).

Bembix sibilans Handlirsch & Lohrmann, 1948: 448 (member of fuscipennis species group); de Beaumont 1967: 506 (South Africa, Cape Province); R. Bohart and Menke 1976: 548 (in checklist of world Sphecidae ); Gess 1981: 21 (habitat); Gess 1986: 154-155, 158 (plants visited, nesting, prey); S. Gess 1996: 275, 291, 304 (flower visiting records); Gess and Gess 2003: 125 (flower visiting records); Evans and O’Neil 2007: 185 (summary of information on nesting habits); Pulawski 2013: 80 (in catalogue of world Sphecidae sensu lato).

Material examined.

LESOTHO: Bokong P.O. [29.17S, 28.23E], 26.xii.1946 (L. Bevis), 1 ♂ [AMGS]; Leribe [28.52S, 28.3E], 22.xii.1933 (C. Guillarmod), 1 ♀ [AMGS]; Malinguaneng [29.19S, 28.47E], 15.i.1955 (A. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀ [AMGS]; Mamathes [29.08S, 27.51E], ii.1940 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♂, iv.1940 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀, xi.1940 (C. and A. Jacot-Guillarmod), 2 ♂♂, xii.1940 (C. and A. Jacot-Guillarmod), 2 ♂♂, xii.1941 (C. and A. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀, 13.i.1945 (A. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀, 5.i.1946 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀, 15.xii.1946 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♂, 14.xi1948 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀, 8.xi.1949 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 4 ♂♂, 13.xi.1949 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 3 ♂♂, 17.xi.1949 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 2 ♂♂, 18.xi.1949 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♂, 1. xi.1951 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♂, 2.xi.1951 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♂, 4.xi.1951 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀, 7.xi.1951 (A. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♂, 18.xi.1951 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 2 ♂♂, 23.xi.1952 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀, 22.xi.1952 (C. Jacot Guillarmod), 1 ♀, 2.i.1953 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀, 14.xi.1954 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀, 22.i.1956 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀, 1.xii.1957 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀ [all AMGS]; Roma [29.28S, 27.44E], 17.xii.1964 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 3 ♂♂ [AMGS]; Roma, 17.xii.1964 (D.J. Brothers), 1 ♀, 1 ♂ [AMGS]. SOUTH AFRICA: EASTERN CAPE: Bathurst [33.29S, 26.50E], 14.i.1959 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1♂ [AMGS], Belmont Valley [33.19S, 26.35E], Grahamstown, 24.i.1970 (C. Jacot-Guillarmod), 1 ♀ (on flowering Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Apiaceae ) [AMGS]; East London [33.03S, 27.55E], no date given (G. Rattray), 1 ♂ [AMGS]; Gxulu River [33.07S, 22.44E], 15.xii.1970 (F.W. Gess), 1 ♀ [AMGS]; Hilton farm [33.15S, 26.20E], Grahamstown, 1-4.xii.1970 (F.W. Gess), 1 ♂ (Malaise trap). WESTERN CAPE: Grootbos Nature Reserve (34.31S, 19.26E), 20.xi.2012 (S.K. Gess), 1 ♂ (on sandy road, female sighted taking prey into nest) [AMGS].

Additional records extracted from database of specimens in collection of SAMC are eight specimens from Lesotho, Mamathes, two determined by G. Arnold, and a nineth specimen from Port Elizabeth determined by H. Brauns, no sexes given.

Geographical distribution.

Known only from Lesotho and the Eastern Cape ( Fig. 14f ).

Floral associations.

Recorded from four plant families: Apiaceae (one female on flowering Foeniculum vulgare Mill.); Asteraceae ( Berkheya heterophylla (Thunb.) O. Hoffm. and Chrysocoma ciliate L.); Boraginaceae ( Anchusa capensis Thunb.); Scrophulariaceae ( Phyllopodium cuneifolium (L. f.) Benth.).

Nesting.

Two nests were investigated, one at Hilton and the other at Slaaikraal, both Eastern Cape. Both were single-celled sloping burrows excavated in friable soil. Unlike the nests of other species of southern African species, in neither nest did the main shaft end in a spur.

Prey.

Recorded taking six families of Diptera : Tabanidae , Nemestrinidae , Bombyliidae , Calliphoridae , Sarcophagidae , and Tachinidae .

Figures

Figure 13. Bembix spp.: a Bembix namibensis, female, male b Bembix ochracea, female, male c Bembix olivata, female, male d Bembix regnata, female, male e Bembix scaura, female, male f Bembix sibilans, female, male. (approximate lengths of females: a 20.5 mm; b 16.5 mm; c 15.5 mm; d 18 mm; e 20 mm; f 19.5 mm)

Figure 14. Distributions of collection records of Bembix spp.: a Bembix namibensis b Bembix ochracea c Bembix olivata d Bembix regnata e Bembix scaura f Bembix sibilans.