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m Dennett 1973 was cited twice and two identical references were included in the reference list. I have pointed the two citations to a single item in the reference list.
 
imported>Lhikan634
→Species: Removing 1 name as scientific misinformation; the few remaining are best handled on species articles due to formatting issues
 
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[[Wasp]]s of the genus '''''Sphex''''' (commonly known as '''digger wasps''') are [[Cosmopolitan distribution|cosmopolitan]] [[predator]]s that sting and paralyze prey insects. ''Sphex'' is one of many genera in the old digger wasp family [[Sphecidae]] (''[[sensu lato]]''), though most apart from the Sphecinae have now been moved to the family [[Crabronidae]].<ref name="Pulawski 2021">{{cite web |last=Pulawski |first=Wojciech J. |title=Family Group Names and Classification: and taxa excluded from Sphecidae sensu lato |publisher=California Academy of Sciences |url=http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/entomology_resources/hymenoptera/sphecidae/family_group_names_and_classification.pdf |date=25 April 2021 |accessdate=14 January 2022 |orig-year=2014}}</ref> There are over 130 known ''Sphex'' species.
'''''Sphex''''' is a genus of [[Cosmopolitan distribution|cosmopolitan]] [[wasp]] that sting and paralyze prey insects. ''Sphex'' is one of many genera in the old digger wasp family [[Sphecidae]] (''[[sensu lato]]''), though most apart from the Sphecinae have now been moved to the family [[Crabronidae]].<ref name="Pulawski 2021">{{cite web |last=Pulawski |first=Wojciech J. |title=Family Group Names and Classification: and taxa excluded from Sphecidae sensu lato |publisher=California Academy of Sciences |url=https://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/entomology_resources/hymenoptera/sphecidae/family_group_names_and_classification.pdf |date=25 April 2021 |accessdate=14 January 2022 |orig-year=2014}}</ref> There are over 130 known ''Sphex'' species.


==Behaviour==
==Behavior==
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 [[paralysis|paralyzed]] by [[wasp]] toxins. The wasps lay their eggs in the provisioned nest and the wasp [[larva]]e feed on the paralyzed insects as they develop.
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 [[paralysis|paralyzed]] by [[wasp]] toxins. The wasps lay their eggs in the provisioned nest and the wasp [[larva]]e feed on the paralyzed insects as they develop.


The 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.
The 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.


=== The Sphex Wasp Experiment ===
''Sphex'' has been shown, as in some [[Jean-Henri Fabre]] studies,<ref>Fabre, J.H. (1915/2001). ''The hunting wasps''. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.</ref> 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.
''Sphex'' has been shown, as in some [[Jean-Henri Fabre]] studies,<ref>Fabre, J.H. (1915/2001). ''The hunting wasps''. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.</ref> 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 of ''Sphex'' were studied by the ethologist [[Niko Tinbergen]].<ref>Tinbergen, N. (1974). ''Curious naturalists'' (2nd Ed). Harmondsworth: Penguin.</ref> [[Richard Dawkins]] and [[Jane Brockmann]] later studied female rivalry over nesting holes in ''Sphex ichneumoneus''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dawkins |first1=Richard |last2=Brockmann |first2=H. Jane |author-link2=H. Jane Brockmann |date=1980 |title=Do Digger Wasps Commit the Concorde Fallacy? |url=http://www.richarddawkins.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2014/06/Digger-wasps-Concorde-fallacy.pdf |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=892–896 |doi=10.1016/s0003-3472(80)80149-7 |s2cid=54319297 |accessdate=19 July 2015}}</ref>
The navigation abilities of ''Sphex'' were studied by the ethologist [[Niko Tinbergen]].<ref>Tinbergen, N. (1974). ''Curious naturalists'' (2nd Ed). Harmondsworth: Penguin.</ref> [[Richard Dawkins]] and [[Jane Brockmann]] later studied female rivalry over nesting holes in ''Sphex ichneumoneus''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dawkins |first1=Richard |last2=Brockmann |first2=H. Jane |author-link2=H. Jane Brockmann |date=1980 |title=Do Digger Wasps Commit the Concorde Fallacy? |url=https://www.richarddawkins.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/41/2014/06/Digger-wasps-Concorde-fallacy.pdf |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=892–896 |doi=10.1016/s0003-3472(80)80149-7 |s2cid=54319297 |accessdate=19 July 2015}}</ref>


== Use in philosophy<!--'Sphexishness' redirects here--> ==
== Use in philosophy<!--'Sphexishness' redirects here--> ==
Some writers in the [[philosophy of mind]], most notably [[Daniel Dennett]], have cited ''Sphex'''s behavior for their arguments about human and animal [[free will]].<ref name="Dennett1973">Dennett, Daniel (1973). "Mechanism and responsibility". In T. Honderich (Ed.), ''Essays on freedom of action''.  London: Routledge.</ref>
Some writers in the [[philosophy of mind]], most notably [[Daniel Dennett]], have cited the results of the ''Sphex'' Wasp Experiment for their arguments about human and animal [[free will]].<ref name="Dennett1973">Dennett, Daniel (1973). "Mechanism and responsibility". In T. Honderich (Ed.), ''Essays on freedom of action''.  London: Routledge.</ref>


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 several times without the ''Sphex'' changing its sequence; by some accounts, endlessly. Dennett's argument quotes an account of ''Sphex'' behavior from [[Dean Wooldridge]]'s ''Machinery of the Brain'' (1963).<ref>Dean Wooldridge (1963). ''The Machinery of the Brain''. McGraw-Hill</ref> [[Douglas Hofstadter]]<ref>Hofstadter, Douglas (1985). "On the seeming paradox of mechanizing creativity". In  ''Metamagical themas''. Penguin. pp. 526–546.</ref> and [[Daniel Dennett]]<ref name="Dennett1973"/> 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 Dennett described it, '''sphexishness'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->).
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 several times without the ''Sphex'' changing its sequence; by some accounts, endlessly. Dennett's argument quotes an account of ''Sphex'' behavior from [[Dean Wooldridge]]'s ''Machinery of the Brain'' (1963).<ref>Dean Wooldridge (1963). ''The Machinery of the Brain''. McGraw-Hill</ref> [[Douglas Hofstadter]]<ref>Hofstadter, Douglas (1985). "On the seeming paradox of mechanizing creativity". In  ''Metamagical themas''. Penguin. pp. 526–546.</ref> and [[Daniel Dennett]]<ref name="Dennett1973"/> 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 Dennett described it, '''sphexishness'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA-->).
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[[File:Sphex argentatus fumosus 1.jpg|thumb|''Sphex argentatus'']]
[[File:Sphex argentatus fumosus 1.jpg|thumb|''Sphex argentatus'']]
[[File:Sphex funerarius mit Beute.ogv|thumb|thumbtime=2:28|''Sphex funerarius'' with prey]]
[[File:Sphex funerarius mit Beute.ogv|thumb|thumbtime=2:28|''Sphex funerarius'' with prey]]
[[File:Great golden digger wasp.webm|thumb|thumbtime=136|[[Great golden digger wasp]] on [[Asclepias fascicularis|narrow leaf milkweed]]. Part is shown at one tenth speed.]]
The genus ''Sphex'' contains 132 extant species:<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pulawski|first=Wojciech|date=11 October 2021|title=Sphex|url=https://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/entomology_resources/hymenoptera/sphecidae/genera/sphex.pdf|website=[[California Academy of Sciences]]}}</ref>
The genus ''Sphex'' contains 132 extant species:<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pulawski|first=Wojciech|date=11 October 2021|title=Sphex|url=https://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/entomology_resources/hymenoptera/sphecidae/genera/sphex.pdf|website=[[California Academy of Sciences]]}}</ref>


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*''[[Sphex fumicatus]]'' <small>Christ, 1791</small>
*''[[Sphex fumicatus]]'' <small>Christ, 1791</small>
*''[[Sphex fumipennis]]'' <small>F. Smith, 1856</small>
*''[[Sphex fumipennis]]'' <small>F. Smith, 1856</small>
*''[[Sphex funerarius]]'' <small>Gussakovskij, 1934</small> – golden digger wasp
*''[[Sphex funerarius]]'' <small>Gussakovskij, 1934</small>
*''[[Sphex gaullei]]'' <small>Berland, 1927</small>
*''[[Sphex gaullei]]'' <small>Berland, 1927</small>
*''[[Sphex gilberti]]'' <small>R. Turner, 1908</small>
*''[[Sphex gilberti]]'' <small>R. Turner, 1908</small>
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*''[[Sphex habenus]]'' <small>Say, 1832</small>
*''[[Sphex habenus]]'' <small>Say, 1832</small>
*''[[Sphex haemorrhoidalis]]'' <small>Fabricius, 1781</small>
*''[[Sphex haemorrhoidalis]]'' <small>Fabricius, 1781</small>
*''[[Sphex ichneumoneus]]'' <small>([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])</small> – great golden digger wasp
*''[[Sphex ichneumoneus]]'' <small>([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])</small>
*''[[Sphex imporcatus]]'' <small>Dörfel and Ohl, 2015</small>
*''[[Sphex imporcatus]]'' <small>Dörfel and Ohl, 2015</small>
*''[[Sphex incomptus]]'' <small>Gerstaecker, 1871</small>
*''[[Sphex incomptus]]'' <small>Gerstaecker, 1871</small>
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*''[[Sphex nigrohirtus]]'' <small>Kohl, 1895</small>
*''[[Sphex nigrohirtus]]'' <small>Kohl, 1895</small>
*''[[Sphex nitidiventris]]'' <small>Spinola, 1851</small>
*''[[Sphex nitidiventris]]'' <small>Spinola, 1851</small>
*''[[Sphex nudus]]'' <small>Fernald, 1903</small> – katydid wasp
*''[[Sphex nudus]]'' <small>Fernald, 1903</small>
*''[[Sphex observabilis]]'' <small>(R. Turner, 1918)</small>
*''[[Sphex observabilis]]'' <small>(R. Turner, 1918)</small>
*''[[Sphex opacus]]'' <small>Dahlbom, 1845</small>
*''[[Sphex opacus]]'' <small>Dahlbom, 1845</small>
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*''[[Sphex oxianus]]'' <small>Gussakovskij, 1928</small>
*''[[Sphex oxianus]]'' <small>Gussakovskij, 1928</small>
*''[[Sphex paulinierii]]'' <small>Guérin-Méneville, 1843</small>
*''[[Sphex paulinierii]]'' <small>Guérin-Méneville, 1843</small>
*''[[Sphex pensylvanicus]]'' <small>Linnaeus, 1763</small> – great black wasp
*''[[Sphex pensylvanicus]]'' <small>Linnaeus, 1763</small>
*''[[Sphex permagnus]]'' <small>(Willink, 1951)</small>
*''[[Sphex permagnus]]'' <small>(Willink, 1951)</small>
*''[[Sphex peruanus]]'' <small>Kohl, 1890</small>
*''[[Sphex peruanus]]'' <small>Kohl, 1890</small>
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*[http://www.cirrusimage.com/hymenoptera_Great_Golden_Digger_Wasp.htm Great golden digger wasp ''Sphex ichneumoneus'' - large format diagnostic photographs, wasp with katydid prey]
*[http://www.cirrusimage.com/hymenoptera_Great_Golden_Digger_Wasp.htm Great golden digger wasp ''Sphex ichneumoneus'' - large format diagnostic photographs, wasp with katydid prey]
*[http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Sphecidae  Online Identification Guide to eastern North American ''Sphex'']
*[https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Sphecidae  Online Identification Guide to eastern North American ''Sphex'']


{{Taxonbar|from=Q311144}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q311144}}

Latest revision as of 19:24, 14 September 2025

Template:Short description Template:Automatic taxobox

Sphex is a genus of cosmopolitan wasp that sting and paralyze prey insects. Sphex is one of many genera in the old digger wasp family Sphecidae (sensu lato), though most apart from the Sphecinae have now been moved to the family Crabronidae.[1] There are over 130 known Sphex species.

Behavior

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 and the wasp larvae feed on the paralyzed insects as they develop.

The 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.

The Sphex Wasp Experiment

Sphex has been shown, as in some Jean-Henri Fabre studies,[2] 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 of Sphex were studied by the ethologist Niko Tinbergen.[3] Richard Dawkins and Jane Brockmann later studied female rivalry over nesting holes in Sphex ichneumoneus.[4]

Use in philosophy

Some writers in the philosophy of mind, most notably Daniel Dennett, have cited the results of the Sphex Wasp Experiment for their arguments about human and animal free will.[5]

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 several times without the Sphex changing its sequence; by some accounts, endlessly. Dennett's argument quotes an account of Sphex behavior from Dean Wooldridge's Machinery of the Brain (1963).[6] Douglas Hofstadter[7] and Daniel Dennett[5] 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 Dennett described it, sphexishness).

Philosopher Fred Keijzer challenges this use of Sphex, citing experiments in which behavioral adaptations are observed after many iterations. Keijzer sees the persistence of the Sphex example in cognitive theory as an indication of its rhetorical usefulness, not its factual accuracy.[8] Keijzer also noted that repeated inspection of a disturbed nest may very well be an adaptive behavior, thus diminishing the aptness of Hofstadter's metaphor.[8]

Species

File:Sphex argentatus fumosus 1.jpg
Sphex argentatus
File:Sphex funerarius mit Beute.ogv
Sphex funerarius with prey
File:Great golden digger wasp.webm
Great golden digger wasp on narrow leaf milkweed. Part is shown at one tenth speed.

The genus Sphex contains 132 extant species:[9]

Template:Div col

Template:Div col end

Fossil Species

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Sister project

Template:Taxonbar

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Fabre, J.H. (1915/2001). The hunting wasps. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.
  3. ↑ Tinbergen, N. (1974). Curious naturalists (2nd Ed). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ a b Dennett, Daniel (1973). "Mechanism and responsibility". In T. Honderich (Ed.), Essays on freedom of action. London: Routledge.
  6. ↑ Dean Wooldridge (1963). The Machinery of the Brain. McGraw-Hill
  7. ↑ Hofstadter, Douglas (1985). "On the seeming paradox of mechanizing creativity". In Metamagical themas. Penguin. pp. 526–546.
  8. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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