Philanthus gibbosus  Philanthus gibbosus, which is commonly referred to as a beewolf due to its predation practices, is a species of bee-hunting wasp and is the most common and widespread member of the genus in North America. "P. gibbosus" is of the order Hymenoptera and the genus "Philanthus". It is native to the Midwestern United States and the western Appalachians. "P. gibbosus" are often observed to visit flowers and other plants in search of insect prey to feed their young. The prey that "P. gibbosus" catches is then coated in a layer of pollen and fed to the young wasps. "Philanthus gibbosus" is a member of the family Crabronidae of wasps within the order Hymenoptera. Below is a cladogram that is based on a 2012 study conducted by Debevic et al. and published in the journal Zoologica Scriptica. The study investigated molecular phylogeny to reveal that the bees, Anthophila, came from within the family Crabronidae, meaning the family is, therefore, paraphyletic. The genus "Philanthus" contains about 135 other species in addition to "P. gibbosus." The predation habits of the family Crabronidae shed light on the question whether bees or wasps came first. Based on this evidence, bees are a lineage of pollen-collecting wasps that descend directly from a group of predatory wasps in Crabronidae. "P. gibbosus" is a small and robust wasp that is about 10–12 mm in length. "P. gibbosus" has an especially broad head and a coat of chitin that is shiny black with yellow spots on the head and yellow stripes on the abdomen and thorax. There are very large, deep punctures on the abdomen of "P. gibbosus", making the species easy and distinct to identify in comparison to other members of the genus "Philanthus". While the general range of "P. gibbosus" size is 10–12 mm in length, females are usually closer to the smaller end of the scale. Female "P. gibbosus" have more yellow coloration on the head than do the males of the species. The males of "P. gibbosus" resemble the females very closely, but the most notable difference is the significantly reduced presence of yellow spots on the head.