Ampulicidae

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Ampulicidae (cockroach wasps, digger wasps; class Hymenoptera, superfamily Sphecoidea) The most primitive family of sphecid hunting wasps, in which the antennae are inserted low on the face, with the sockets touching or close to the fronto-clypeal suture (see CLYPEUS). The pronotum has a high collar, and is long to very long and often tuberculate. The propodeum is long to very long, with the enclosed area entirely dorsal, and U-shaped to nearly triangular. The mid-tibiae have two apical spurs, and the claws have an inner tooth. The marginal cell of the fore wing is acuminate apically, and apendiculate. The fore wing has two or three submarginal cells, and two re-current veins (the first recurrent received by submarginal 1 or 2, the second received by 2 or 3). The abdomen is sessile, or with a petiole (see GASTER) composed of the sternum and tergum. There are about 160 species, mainly tropical.