Masterly Named. Cerceris rybyensis, Ornate-tailed Digger Wasp, on Gypsywort, Lycopus europaeus, Vondelpark, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
On June 26, 1771 Daniel Henricus Söderberg (1750-1781) defended his dissertation Pandora et Flora Rybyensis under the aegis of great Linnaeus. The booklet is more or less a listing of the insects and flowers found in the area of Öster Ryby, west of Stockholm. Now and then explicating footnotes are added to the listed names; this is the case with our Ornate-tailed Digger or Bee-killer Wasp, called as yet Sphex rybyensis (footnote m on p.88). At the beginning of the nineteenth century Pierre André Latreille (1762-1833) renamed this Sphex, Cerceris. In the literature our Rybyensis is usually denoted with 'Linnaeus, 1771'; presumably that's because dissertations of their students in that age were often 'attributed' to their supervisors, in this case Linnaeus.
In the Vondelpark where I ambled leisurely yesterday this Bee-killer - quite small; but in fact, it can carry prey heavier than itself - was delighting in the sugars in the tiny flowers of Gypsywort, Lycopus europaeus.
Masterly Named. Cerceris rybyensis, Ornate-tailed Digger Wasp, on Gypsywort, Lycopus europaeus, Vondelpark, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
On June 26, 1771 Daniel Henricus Söderberg (1750-1781) defended his dissertation Pandora et Flora Rybyensis under the aegis of great Linnaeus. The booklet is more or less a listing of the insects and flowers found in the area of Öster Ryby, west of Stockholm. Now and then explicating footnotes are added to the listed names; this is the case with our Ornate-tailed Digger or Bee-killer Wasp, called as yet Sphex rybyensis (footnote m on p.88). At the beginning of the nineteenth century Pierre André Latreille (1762-1833) renamed this Sphex, Cerceris. In the literature our Rybyensis is usually denoted with 'Linnaeus, 1771'; presumably that's because dissertations of their students in that age were often 'attributed' to their supervisors, in this case Linnaeus.
In the Vondelpark where I ambled leisurely yesterday this Bee-killer - quite small; but in fact, it can carry prey heavier than itself - was delighting in the sugars in the tiny flowers of Gypsywort, Lycopus europaeus.