Jamaican Digger Wasp

Sphex jamaicensis · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Sphecidae

Also called: Caribbean Digger Wasp

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Jamaican Digger Wasp
Photo: Jean-Lou Justine, CC BY

The Jamaican Digger Wasp is a thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae. Its scientific name has caused homonym conflicts with another species described by Fabricius in 1775.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Sphex jamaicensis belongs to the thread-waisted wasp family Sphecidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It lives in Florida, Cuba, the Bahamas and Jamaica.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range includes Florida, Cuba, the Bahamas and Jamaica.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

Conversely, Sphex jamaicensis Fabricius, 1775 is a junior secondary homonym of the earlier Drury name.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Florida.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

JFMAMJJASOND

Source: GBIF

More photos

Jamaican Digger Wasp photo 2
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Jamaican Digger Wasp photo 3
Photo: Josiah Londerée, CC BY
Jamaican Digger Wasp photo 4
Photo: Benjamin Burgunder, CC BY
Jamaican Digger Wasp photo 5
Photo: Tom Field, CC BY

Same family (Sphecidae)

Yellow-legged Mud-dauber WaspYellow-legged Mud-dauber WaspSceliphron caementariumCan stingCommon Blue Mud-dauber WaspCommon Blue Mud-dauber WaspChalybion californicumCan stingGreat Golden Digger WaspGreat Golden Digger WaspSphex ichneumoneusGreat Black Digger WaspGreat Black Digger WaspSphex pensylvanicusCan stingGold-marked Thread-waisted WaspGold-marked Thread-waisted WaspEremnophila aureonotataMexican Grass-carrying WaspMexican Grass-carrying WaspIsodontia mexicana

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphex_jamaicensis

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.