Zyzzyx 963787 205063388 2008-04-12T03:52:55Z ENeville 301850 condensing hatnote {{distinguish|Zzyzx}} {{Taxobox | name = ''Zyzzyx'' | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Arthropod]]a | classis = [[Insect]]a | ordo = [[Hymenoptera]] | subordo = [[Apocrita]] | superfamilia = [[Apoidea]] | familia = [[Crabronidae]] | subfamilia = [[Bembicinae]] | genus = '''''Zyzzyx''''' | genus_authority = Pate, 1937 | species = '''''Z. chilensis''''' | binomial = ''Zyzzyx chilensis'' | binomial_authority = [[Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz|Eschscholz]], 1822 }} '''Zyzzyx''' is a [[monospecific]] genus of [[sand wasp]], containing a brightly-colored, medium-sized species, '''''Z. chilensis''''', named after the sound they make while flying. They were first studied in detail by H. Janvier (a.k.a. [[Claude-Joseph]]) in [[1928]], more than 100 years after they were first described. They are primarily predators on [[fly|flies]], but have been observed to consume [[Skipper (butterfly)|skipper]]s. ==References== * Genise, J.F., "Estudios sobre el comportamiento de nidificación de Bembicini neotropicales VI. ''Zyzzyx chilensis'' (Eschscholz) (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)" ''Rev. Soc. Entomol. Argentina'' 41: 289-298 (1982) * Howard E. Evans, "A Review of Prey Choice in Bembicine Sand Wasps (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)" ''Neotropical Entomology'' 31(1): 001-011 (2002) (PDF at [http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ne/v31n1/11172.pdf]) ==External links== * [http://vidal.med.puc.cl/ZyzzChilensis.html Description of ''Z. chilensis'', with pictures (in Spanish)] * [http://www.calacademy.org/research/entomology/Entomology_Resources/Hymenoptera/sphecidae/Genera_and_species_PDF/Zyzzyx.pdf PDF file at Calacademy with refs and history of taxonomy] [[Category:Apoidea]] [[Category:Biological pest control agents]] {{Hymenoptera-stub}}