Common Spiny Digger Wasp vs Lobo gris

Oxybelus uniglumis compared with Canis lupus

Key Differences

• Common Spiny Digger Wasp is Least Concern while Lobo gris is Critically Endangered.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Common Spiny Digger Wasp	Lobo gris
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Arthropoda (artrópodos)	Chordata (cordados)
Class	Insecta (insecto)	Mammalia (mamíferos)
Order	Hymenoptera (himenópteros)	Carnivora (carnívoros)
Family	Crabronidae	Canidae (Dogs & Wolves)
Genus	Oxybelus	Canis (Dogs & Wolves)
Species	Oxybelus uniglumis	Canis lupus

Evolutionary Relationship

Common Spiny Digger Wasp and Lobo gris share a common ancestor at the Kingdom level: Animalia. (Animals)

Conservation Status

Common Spiny Digger Wasp

LC — Least Concern

Lobo gris

CR — Critically Endangered

Population: ~300.0K

Trend: Stable →

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Common Spiny Digger Wasp	Lobo gris
Diet	—	Carnivore
Average Lifespan	—	13 years
Average Length	—	1.6 m
Average Weight	—	45.0 kg

Habitat & Geographic Range

Common Spiny Digger Wasp

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Lobo gris

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, deserts and xeric shrublands, and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, among 13 distinct biome types. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Africa (Seychelles), Asia (Japan), Europe (5 countries), North America (7 countries), Oceania and the Pacific (Marshall Islands, Vanuatu), and South America (5 countries). Currently classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Common Spiny Digger Wasp

<em>Oxybelus uniglumis</em>, commonly known as the common spiny digger wasp, is a small solitary wasp in the family Crabronidae, widespread across Europe, North Africa, and parts of western Asia. This species typically inhabits sunny, open areas with sandy or loose soil, including sand dunes, sandy heathlands, path edges, and sparsely vegetated ground where females excavate burrows for nesting. Its geographic range extends from the British Isles and Scandinavia across continental Europe to the Mediterranean, with additional populations recorded across North Africa and into central Asia. Classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, <em>Oxybelus uniglumis</em> is among the more commonly encountered digger wasps in European sandy habitats. The species is a specialised predator of flies, particularly small dipterans from families such as Muscidae and Calliphoridae, which are paralysed and carried back to the burrow impaled on the female's sting to provision larval cells. This behaviour of impaling prey on the sting for transport is a distinctive characteristic of the genus Oxybelus. Biological traits such as average lifespan in years, precise body length measurements, and body weight remain poorly documented for this species. Adults are typically active from late spring through late summer.

Lobo gris

El lobo gris (Canis lupus), el cánido silvestre más ampliamente distribuido, se extiende desde América del Norte a través de Eurasia en hábitats diversos que incluyen la tundra, bosques y praderas. Son animales altamente sociales que viven en manadas familiares lideradas por una pareja reproductora dominante. Como depredadores clave, los lobos regulan las poblaciones de presas y moldean profundamente la estructura del ecosistema, como demostró su reintroducción en Yellowstone. Antes muy perseguidos, las poblaciones se están recuperando en muchas regiones.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 4 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden