Sceliphron spirifex

Sceliphron spirifex
S. spirifex in Tanzania
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	Pancrustacea
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Sphecidae
Tribe:	Sceliphrini
Genus:	Sceliphron
Species:	S. spirifex
Binomial name
Sceliphron spirifex (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms 1
Sphex spirifex Linnaeus, 1758 Sphex aegyptius Linnaeus, 1758 Pelopaeus spirifex (Linnaeus, 1758) - 1804 Sphex spirifex atra Scopoli, 1786 Sphex flavipes Christ, 1791 Pelopaeus aegyptiacum Klug, 1801 - 1851 Trypoxylon spirifex (Linnaeus, 1758) - 1860 Pelopaeus aterrimus Marquet, 1875 Sceliphron aegyptiacum Klug, 1801 - 1903 Sceliphron spirifex var. aegyptiacum Dalla Torre, 1897

Sceliphron spirifex is a species of sphecid wasp. It has a medium-sized body (17–27 millimetres or 0.7–1.1 inches), which is dull black with a long, yellow petiole (waist). The legs are black with yellow bands, the antennae are black and the wings are clear.

Females build large multi-celled mud nests attached to cliffs, rocks, tree trunks, bridges and buildings. The cells are mass-provisioned with several spiders and sealed with mud.

S. spirifex lives in diverse habitats across Africa and Southern Europe, but is strongly associated with buildings and other man-made structures.

• 
  A Mediterranean house gecko in ambush on a nest of a Sceliphron spirifex.
• 
  A Sceliphron spirifex offspring emerges from the nest.
• 
  A Sceliphron spirifex female building a nest.