Alice Springs Fauna •

Australia is home to thousands of native species of wasps, with Alice Springs having their own share of beautiful wasps. Like the native bees, the native wasps play a critical role in the environment with some wasps that feed on nectar (aiding in plant pollination), and others who are just as important, being predators and parasites and whose larvae feed on spiders, caterpillars and other insects.

Alice Springs and Central Australia also have a large variety of wasps species, that can be seen in the home garden, out and about in the parks, reserves and bushland. Local attractions like the Olive Pink Botanic Garden and the Alice Springs Desert Park are places that you can usually find various wasp species.

Alice Springs Wasps Index

Click on the following images to see more about the individual wasps.

Abispa ephippium (Mud-nest Wasp), Alice Springs NT
Abispa ephippium (Mud-nest Wasp)
Agriomyia maculata (Flower Wasp), Alice Springs NT
Agriomyia maculata (Flower Wasp)
Blue Hairy Flower Wasp (family Scoliidae, genus Austroscolia), Alice Springs NT
Austroscolia genus (Blue Hairy Flower Wasp)
Sand Wasp (subfamily Bembicinae), Alice Springs, NT
Bembicinae subfamily (Sand Wasp)
Genus Bembix (Sand Wasp), Alice Springs Desert Park NT
Bembicinae subfamily / Bembix genus (Sand Wasp)
Bethylidae (Flat Wasp), Alice Springs NT
Bethylidae (Flat Wasp)
Spider Wasp (genus Cryptocheilus, family Pompilidae), Alice Springs NT
Cryptocheilus genus (Spider Wasp)
Cryptocheilus bicolor with prey (Neosparassus sp), Alice Springs NT
Cryptocheilus bicolor (Spider Wasp)
Orange-tailed Potter Wasp (Delta latreillei), Alice Springs NT
Delta latreillei (Orange-tailed Potter Wasp)
Delta philantes - Wasp, Alice Springs NT
Delta philantes (genus Delta Wasps)
Eumeninae sp, Alice Springs, NT
Eumeninae sp (family Vespidae, subfamily Eumeninae)
Peek look at the larva in the mud nest of the Mud Wasp (Eumenes latreilli), Alice Springs, NT
Mud Nests and Potter Wasps (order Hymenoptera)
Orchid Dupe Wasp (Lissopimpla excelsa), Alice Springs NT
Lissopimpla excelsa (Orchid Dupe Wasp)
Paralastor sp, Alice Springs NT
Paralastor sp / Eumeninae sp (Paralastor Potter Wasp)
Pseudabispa bicolor ssp. nigrocinctoides, Alice Springs, NT
Pseudabispa bicolor ssp. nigrocinctoides (Potter Wasp)
Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris radula) on lemon blossoms, Alice Springs NT
Radumeris radula (Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp / Scoliid Wasps)
Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris tasmaniensis)
Radumeris tasmaniensis (Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp / Scoliid Wasps)
Sceliphron laetum making the next cell in the mud nest, Alice Springs NT
Sceliphron laetum (Mud-dauber Wasp)
Genus Agriomyia (a member of Thynnid Flower Wasps Family Thynnidae), Alice Springs NT
Thynnid Flower Wasps (genus Agriomyia, family Thynnidae)
Female Thynnid Wasp, Alice Springs NT
Thynnid Wasp (Female)
Greater Black Velvet Ant (Ephutomorpha formicaria), Alice Springs NT
Velvet Ant Family (tribe Dasymutillini)

Alice Springs WaspsAbispa ephippium Agriomyia maculata Bembicinae Bembix Bethylidae Blue Hairy Flower Wasp Cryptocheilus Cryptocheilus bicolor Delta latreillei Delta philantes Eumeninae Mud Nests and Potter Wasps Orchid Dupe Wasp Paralastor (Potter Wasp) Pseudabispa bicolor ssp. nigrocinctoides Sceliphron laetum Thynnid Flower Wasps Velvet Ant Family (Tribe Dasymutillini) Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris radula) Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris tasmaniensis)

Sand Wasp (subfamily Bembicinae), Alice Springs, NT
Sand Wasp (subfamily Bembicinae), Alice Springs NT
Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris tasmaniensis)
Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris tasmaniensis), Alice Springs NT
Orange Potter Wasp species resting in the shade of a lemon tree
Orange-tailed Potter Wasps (Delta latreillei) and a Mud Wasp (Abispa ephippium)
Orange-tailed Potter Wasp (Delta latreillei), Alice Springs NT
Orange-tailed Potter Wasp (Delta latreillei), Alice Springs NT

More information in our Fauna section under Insects > Wasps | Wasps Index


  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Informal: Pterygotes
  • Order: Hymenoptera
Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris radula) with black ants on lemon blossoms, Alice Springs NT
Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris radula) with black ants on lemon blossoms, Alice Springs NT

Alice Springs WaspsAbispa ephippium Agriomyia maculata Bembicinae Bembix Bethylidae Blue Hairy Flower Wasp Cryptocheilus Cryptocheilus bicolor Delta latreillei Delta philantes Eumeninae Mud Nests and Potter Wasps Orchid Dupe Wasp Paralastor (Potter Wasp) Pseudabispa bicolor ssp. nigrocinctoides Sceliphron laetum Thynnid Flower Wasps Velvet Ant Family (Tribe Dasymutillini) Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris radula) Yellow Hairy Flower Wasp (Radumeris tasmaniensis)

Alice Springs FaunaNative Bees Beetles Birds Gastropods (Gastropoda) Insects Marsupials Reptiles Spiders

Alice Springs FloraAlice Springs Flora Index Acacia ligulata Annual Yellowtop Bougainvillea Apple Bush Burdekin Plum Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqa) Cattle Bush Desert Cotton (Aerva javanica) Desert Oak Eremophila Wildberry Feijoa sellowiana Flannel Cudweed Fork-leaf Corkwood Ghost Gum Golden Everlasting Kurrajong Lemon-flowered Gum MacDonnell’s Desert Fuchsia Native Bluebell Native Tomato Needlewood Olive Tree Perennial Yellow Top Rat’s Tail River Red Gum Inland River Red Gum Rosy Dock Round-leaved Mallee Scurvy Grass Silky Eremophila Stemodia viscosa Striped Mintbush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Weeping Bottlebrush White Cedar Yellow Billybutton Yellow-keeled Swainsona Yellow Oleander