Zootaxa 4754 (1): 077–090 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2020 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4754.1.8 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9E1E0828-AD2E-4DB0-98EB-D4432B9C8F32 Biodiversity of the aculeate wasps (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) of the Arabian Peninsula: Apoidea (Spheciformes), Sphecidae (sensu stricto) NEVEEN S. GADALLAH Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt. E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract An updated checklist of the Arabian species of Sphecidae is provided here. The list includes 70 identified valid species in 10 genera and four subfamilies: Ammophilinae (4 genera, 35 species), Chloriontinae (1 genus, 6 species), Sceliphrinae (2 genera, 8 species) and Sphecinae (3 genera, 21 species). Distributions, both on the Peninsula and extra-limital, are provided for each species and subspecies; four species (6%) are endemic to the Arabian Peninsula. Key words: Ammophilinae, Chloriontinae, Sceliphrinae, Sphecinae, distribution Sphecidae Latreille, 1802 The Sphecidae (s.s.) are a cosmopolitan family of wasps, comprising the digger wasps, mud daubers and other thread-waisted wasps. A total of 787 extant species in 19 genera and five subfamilies (Ammophilinae, Chlorion- tinae, Sceliphrinae, Sphecinae and Stangeellinae) are currently included in the family (Pulawski 2019). The largest genus, Ammophila W. Kirby, comprises 240 species, followed by Sphex Linnaeus (132 species) (Pulawski 2019), together forming about 47% of the total number of species. Species of the family Sphecidae can easily be distin- guished from other spheciform families by their petiolate metasoma and the large anal lobe of the hind wing (Bohart & Menke 1976; Finnamore 1993).