Morphological studies on the last instar larvae of three South American species of Sphecidae (Hymenoptera: Apoidea).

Abstract

As part of the effort to describe immature stages of South American apoid wasps species and to raise, describe, and illustrate new characters useful in taxonomic and phylogenetic studies of this group, the last instar larvae of three species are described: Ammophila gracilis Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845, Sphex opacus Dahlbom, 1845, Sphex dorsalis Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845. The specimens were colected in Brazil and analyzed using both optical and scainning eletronic microscope. Comparisons with other species of the genera Ammophila Kirby and Sphex Linnaeus are provided.