Digger-wasp - Digger-wasp

Japanese: アナバチ(穴蜂) - アナバチ（英語表記）digger-wasp

A general term for the genus Sphex , a hunter wasp of the family Digastridae in the order Hymenoptera, which nest by boring holes underground. They are large to medium-sized, with a body length of about 20-35 mm. All hunt katydids as food for their larvae. S. argentatus is a large species with a body length of 25-30 mm, found throughout Japan and Taiwan. It hunts morning crickets, horse crickets, and false burrowing beetles. S. flammitrichus is a larger species with dense golden hairs on the propodeum. It is found from southern Honshu to Taiwan, where it hunts false burrowing beetles. They carry prey that is much heavier and larger than their own bodies, but they also transport long distances by holding the prey in their mouths, straddling it, and climbing up trees and gliding. The small burrowing wasp Isodontia nigella , which hunts grasshoppers and horse chestnuts, builds its nests in small holes in dead trees or bamboo tubes made by other insects, and uses dead grass and moss to divide the nest cells.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

膜翅目ジガバチ科の昆虫のうち，地中などに穿孔して営巣するクロアナバチ属 Sphexなどの狩人蜂の総称。体長 20～35mmほどで大型ないし中型。いずれもキリギリス類昆虫を幼虫の食物として狩る。クロアナバチ S.argentatusは日本全土，台湾に広く分布する体長 25～30mmの大型種。ツユムシ類，ウマオイ，クダマキモドキなどを狩る。キンモウアナバチ S.flammitrichusはより大型の種で，前伸腹節に金色長毛を密生する。本州南部から台湾にかけて分布し，クダマキモドキを狩る。自分の体よりはるかに重く大きい獲物を運ぶが，触角をくわえ獲物にまたがって持上げ，木の上によじのぼり滑空したりして，遠距離輸送を行う。ササキリやウマオイを狩るコクロアナバチ Isodontia nigellaは他の虫のあけた枯れ木の小孔や竹筒を利用して営巣し，巣房の仕切りに枯れ草やコケを用いる。

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