Language: English
The present work is the first complete catalogue of the digger wasps (families Ampulicidae, Crabronidae, and Sphecidae) of Turkey. During 162 years of exploration, 715 nominal names have been proposed for the 530 species and 19 subspecies in 78 genera currently recognized for the Turkish fauna. Catalogued genera are arranged within the three families mentioned above based on the latest concepts regarding the phylogenetic relationships of digger wasps and bees. Citations to the original description are given for each valid species, followed by a summary of previous provincial records in Turkey.
Maps illustrating provincial distributions are also provided for each species. Eight species names are corrected for nomenclatural reasons, one species is synonymized, and lectotypes are designated for four species group taxa. The genus Dynatus, previously recorded from Turkey on the basis of the Neotropical D. nigripes (Westwood, 1832), is here excluded from the Turkish fauna. The catalogue includes 138 reference titles and 551 maps. The book will be an essential addition to any zoological library.