Digger wasp
Encyclopedia
Wasps of the genus Sphex (commonly known as digger wasps) are cosmopolitan
predators of the family Sphecidae
that sting and paralyze prey insects. There are over 130 known digger wasp species. In preparation for egg laying, they construct a protected "nest" (some species dig nests in the ground, while others use pre-existing holes) and then stock it with captured insects. Typically, the prey are left alive, but paralyzed
by wasp
toxins. The wasps lay their eggs in the provisioned nest. When the wasp larva
e hatch, they feed on the paralyzed insects.
The well-known species great golden digger wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) is found in North America. The developing wasps spend the winter in their nest. When the new generation of adults emerge, they contain the genetically programmed behaviors required to carry out another season of nest building. During the summer, a female might build as many as six nests, each with several compartments for her eggs. The building and provisioning of the nests takes place in a stereotypical
, step-by-step fashion.
, most notably Daniel Dennett
, have cited the behavior of this animal for their arguments about human and animal free will.
Some Sphex wasps drop a paralyzed insect near the opening of the nest. Before taking provisions into the nest, the Sphex first inspects the nest, leaving the prey outside. During the inspection, an experimenter can move the prey a few inches away from the opening. When the Sphex emerges from the nest ready to drag in the prey, it finds the prey missing. The Sphex quickly locates the moved prey, but now its behavioral "program" has been reset. After dragging the prey back to the opening of the nest, once again the Sphex is compelled to inspect the nest, so the prey is again dropped and left outside during another stereotypical inspection of the nest. This iteration
can be repeated again and again, with the Sphex never seeming to notice what is going on, never able to escape from its programmed sequence of behaviors. Dennett's argument quotes an account of Sphex behavior from Wooldridge's Machinery of the Brain (1963). Douglas Hofstadter
and Daniel Dennett
have used this mechanistic behavior as an example of how seemingly thoughtful behavior can actually be quite mindless, the opposite of free will (or, as Hofstadter described it, antisphexishness).
In addition to this seemingly instinctive and programmed behavior, the Sphex has been shown, as in some Jean Henri Fabre
studies, not to count how many crickets it collects for its nest. Although the wasp instinctively searches for four crickets, it cannot take into account a lost cricket, whether the cricket has been lost to ants or flies or simply been misplaced. Sphex drags its cricket prey towards its burrow by the antennae; if the antennae of the cricket are cut off, the wasp would not think to continue to pull its prey by a leg.
The navigation abilities and other behavior of Sphex were studied by the ethologist Niko Tinbergen, as explained and demonstrated by Richard Dawkins
in the 1991 Royal Institution
Christmas Lectures, Growing Up in the Universe
.
Cosmopolitan distribution
In biogeography, a taxon is said to have a cosmopolitan distribution if its range extends across all or most of the world in appropriate habitats. For instance, the killer whale has a cosmopolitan distribution, extending over most of the world's oceans. Other examples include humans, the lichen...
predators of the family Sphecidae
Sphecidae
Sphecidae is a cosmopolitan family of wasps that include digger wasps, mud daubers and other familiar types that all fall under the category of thread-waisted wasps.The are predominently solitary wasp,distributed world wide.At present this family consist of eight subfamilies and three tribes...
that sting and paralyze prey insects. There are over 130 known digger wasp species. In preparation for egg laying, they construct a protected "nest" (some species dig nests in the ground, while others use pre-existing holes) and then stock it with captured insects. Typically, the prey are left alive, but paralyzed
Paralysis
Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...
by wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
toxins. The wasps lay their eggs in the provisioned nest. When the wasp larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e hatch, they feed on the paralyzed insects.
The well-known species great golden digger wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) is found in North America. The developing wasps spend the winter in their nest. When the new generation of adults emerge, they contain the genetically programmed behaviors required to carry out another season of nest building. During the summer, a female might build as many as six nests, each with several compartments for her eggs. The building and provisioning of the nests takes place in a stereotypical
Stereotypy
A stereotypy is a repetitive or ritualistic movement, posture, or utterance, found in people with mental retardation, autism spectrum disorders, tardive dyskinesia and stereotypic movement disorder. Stereotypies may be simple movements such as body rocking, or complex, such as self-caressing,...
, step-by-step fashion.
Uses in philosophy
Some writers in the philosophy of mindPhilosophy of mind
Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...
, most notably Daniel Dennett
Daniel Dennett
Daniel Clement Dennett is an American philosopher, writer and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. He is currently the Co-director of...
, have cited the behavior of this animal for their arguments about human and animal free will.
Some Sphex wasps drop a paralyzed insect near the opening of the nest. Before taking provisions into the nest, the Sphex first inspects the nest, leaving the prey outside. During the inspection, an experimenter can move the prey a few inches away from the opening. When the Sphex emerges from the nest ready to drag in the prey, it finds the prey missing. The Sphex quickly locates the moved prey, but now its behavioral "program" has been reset. After dragging the prey back to the opening of the nest, once again the Sphex is compelled to inspect the nest, so the prey is again dropped and left outside during another stereotypical inspection of the nest. This iteration
Iteration
Iteration means the act of repeating a process usually with the aim of approaching a desired goal or target or result. Each repetition of the process is also called an "iteration," and the results of one iteration are used as the starting point for the next iteration.-Mathematics:Iteration in...
can be repeated again and again, with the Sphex never seeming to notice what is going on, never able to escape from its programmed sequence of behaviors. Dennett's argument quotes an account of Sphex behavior from Wooldridge's Machinery of the Brain (1963). Douglas Hofstadter
Douglas Hofstadter
Douglas Richard Hofstadter is an American academic whose research focuses on consciousness, analogy-making, artistic creation, literary translation, and discovery in mathematics and physics...
and Daniel Dennett
Daniel Dennett
Daniel Clement Dennett is an American philosopher, writer and cognitive scientist whose research centers on the philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. He is currently the Co-director of...
have used this mechanistic behavior as an example of how seemingly thoughtful behavior can actually be quite mindless, the opposite of free will (or, as Hofstadter described it, antisphexishness).
In addition to this seemingly instinctive and programmed behavior, the Sphex has been shown, as in some Jean Henri Fabre
Jean Henri Fabre
Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre was a French entomologist and author.-Life:Fabre was born in Saint-Léons in Aveyron, France....
studies, not to count how many crickets it collects for its nest. Although the wasp instinctively searches for four crickets, it cannot take into account a lost cricket, whether the cricket has been lost to ants or flies or simply been misplaced. Sphex drags its cricket prey towards its burrow by the antennae; if the antennae of the cricket are cut off, the wasp would not think to continue to pull its prey by a leg.
The navigation abilities and other behavior of Sphex were studied by the ethologist Niko Tinbergen, as explained and demonstrated by Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
in the 1991 Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
Christmas Lectures, Growing Up in the Universe
Growing Up in the Universe
Growing Up in the Universe was a series of lectures given by Richard Dawkins as part of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, in which he discussed the evolution of life in the universe....
.
Species
The genus Sphex contains over 100 species:- Sphex abyssinicus (Arnold, 1928)
- Sphex ahasverus Kohl, 1890
- Sphex alacer Kohl, 1895
- Sphex antennatus F. Smith, 1856
- Sphex argentatus Fabricius, 1787
- Sphex argentinus Taschenberg, 1869
- Sphex ashmeadi (Fernald, 1906)
- Sphex atropilosus Kohl, 1885
- Sphex basilicus (R. Turner, 1915)
- Sphex bilobatus Kohl, 1895
- Sphex bohemanni Dahlbom, 1845
- Sphex brachystomus Kohl, 1890
- Sphex brasilianus Saussure, 1867
- Sphex caeruleanus Drury, 1773
- Sphex caliginosus Erichson, 1849
- Sphex camposi Campos, 1922
- Sphex carbonicolor Van der Vecht, 1973
- Sphex castaneipes Dahlbom, 1843
- Sphex cinerascens Dahlbom, 1843
- Sphex cognatus F. Smith, 1856
- Sphex confrater Kohl, 1890
- Sphex cristi Genaro in Genaro & Juarrero, 2000
- Sphex cubensis (Fernald, 1906)
- Sphex darwinensis R. Turner, 1912
- Sphex decipiens Kohl, 1895
- Sphex decoratus F. Smith, 1873
- Sphex deplanatus Kohl, 1895
- Sphex diabolicus F. Smith, 1858
- Sphex dorsalis Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845
- Sphex dorycus Guérin-Méneville, 1838
- Sphex ephippium F. Smith, 1856
- Sphex ermineus Kohl, 1890
- Sphex erythrinus (Guiglia, 1939)
- Sphex ferrugineipes W. Fox, 1897
- Sphex finschii Kohl, 1890
- Sphex flavipennis Fabricius, 1793
- Sphex flavovestitus F. Smith, 1856
- Sphex formosellus Van der Vecht, 1957
- Sphex fumicatus Christ, 1791
- Sphex fumipennis F. Smith, 1856
- Sphex funerarius Gussakovskij, 1934
- Sphex gaullei Berland, 1927
- Sphex gilberti R. Turner, 1908
- Sphex gisteli Strand, 1916
- Sphex guatemalensis Cameron, 1888
- Sphex habenus Say, 1832
- Sphex haemorrhoidalis Fabricius, 1781
- Sphex hirtipes Fabricius, 1793
- Sphex ichneumoneus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Sphex incomptus Gerstaecker, 1871
- Sphex ingens F. Smith, 1856
- Sphex inusitatus Yasumatsu, 1935
- Sphex jamaicensis (Drury, 1773)
- Sphex jansei Cameron, 1910
- Sphex kolthoffi Gussakovskij, 1938
- Sphex lanatus Mocsáry, 1883
- Sphex latreillei Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1831
- Sphex latro Erichson, 1849
- Sphex leuconotus Brullé, 1833
- Sphex libycus Beaumont, 1956
- Sphex lucae Saussure, 1867
- Sphex luctuosus F. Smith, 1856
- Sphex madasummae Van der Vecht, 1973
- Sphex malagassus Saussure, 1890
- Sphex mandibularis Cresson, 1869
- Sphex maximiliani Kohl, 1890
- Sphex melanocnemis Kohl, 1885
- Sphex melanopus Dahlbom, 1843
- Sphex melas Gussakovskij, 1930
- Sphex mendozanus Brèthes, 1909
- Sphex mimulus R. Turner, 1910
- Sphex mochii Giordani Soika, 1942
- Sphex modestus F. Smith, 1856
- Sphex muticus Kohl, 1885
- Sphex neavei (Arnold, 1928)
- Sphex neoumbrosus Jha & Farooqui, 1996
- Sphex nigrohirtus Kohl, 1895
- Sphex nitidiventris Spinola, 1851
- Sphex nudus Fernald, 1903
- Sphex observabilis (R. Turner, 1918)
- Sphex opacus Dahlbom, 1845
- Sphex optimus F. Smith, 1856
- Sphex oxianus Gussakovskij, 1928
- Sphex paulinierii Guérin-Méneville, 1843
- Sphex pensylvanicusSphex pensylvanicusSphex pensylvanicus is a species of digger wasp, commonly known as the great black wasp. It lives across most of North America and grows to a size of . The larvae feed on living insects which the females paralyze and carry to the underground nest....
Linnaeus, 1763 - Sphex permagnus (Willink, 1951)
- Sphex peruanus Kohl, 1890
- Sphex praedator F. Smith, 1858
- Sphex prosper Kohl, 1890
- Sphex pruinosus Germar, 1817
- Sphex resinipes (Fernald, 1906)
- Sphex resplendens Kohl, 1885
- Sphex rex Hensen, 1991
- Sphex rhodosoma (R. Turner, 1915)
- Sphex rufinervis Pérez, 1985
- Sphex rufiscutis (R. Turner, 1918)
- Sphex rugifer Kohl, 1890
- Sphex satanas Kohl, 1898
- Sphex schoutedeni Kohl, 1913
- Sphex schrottkyi (Bertoni, 1918)
- Sphex semifossulatus Van der Vecht, 1973
- Sphex sericeus (Fabricius, 1804)
- Sphex servillei Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845
- Sphex solomon Hensen, 1991
- Sphex stadelmanni Kohl, 1895
- Sphex staudingeri Gribodo, 1894
- Sphex subhyalinus W. Fox, 1899
- Sphex subtruncatus Dahlbom, 1843
- Sphex tanoi Tsuneki, 1974
- Sphex taschenbergi Magretti, 1884
- Sphex tepanecus Saussure, 1867
- Sphex texanus Cresson, 1873
- Sphex tinctipennis Cameron, 1888
- Sphex tomentosus Fabricius, 1787
- Sphex torridus F. Smith, 1873
- Sphex vestitus F. Smith, 1856
- Sphex walshae Hensen, 1991
- Sphex wilsoni Hensen, 1991