( Pompilidae )
PHOTO COMMENT
(Fabricius ,1798 )
LOCATION DETAILS
RECOGNITION
BIOLOGY
CREDITS
Brad Smith
References
| Spider Wasp ( Pompilidae ) | |
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PHOTO COMMENT | |
| IDENTIFICATION | |
| Identification: | Pompilidae (Fabricius ,1798 ) |
| Common Name: | Spider Wasp |
| Life Stage: | (A) adult |
| PHYLOGENY | |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Superorder: | Holometabola |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Suborder: | Apocrita |
| Family: | Pompilidae |
| Taxon Code: | HYM02346 |
| ITIS/TSN: | 154286 |
LOCATION DETAILS | |
| Location Name | |
| Cerrito Creek, Albany | |
| County: | Alameda County |
| ECI Site#: | CA01020000 |
RECOGNITION | |
| Description | |
| These wasps are typically dark colored with smoky or yellowish wings. A few are brightly colored. Bodies are slender. Legs and long and spiny. The hind femora typically extends beyond the end of abdomen. Tibiae of rear legs have two prominent spines at apex. Wings are not folded flat on top of abdomen. Mesopleuron has a transverse suture. Like the Vespidae, the Pompilidae have the pronotum extending back to the tegulae, the pronotum thus appearing triangular when viewed from the side and horseshoe-shaped when viewed from above. | |
| Diversity | |
| ~300 species in about 40 genera in North America. About 5,000 species worldwide. | |
| Child Taxa | |
| Pepsis sp. (Tarantula Hawks) | |
BIOLOGY | |
| These wasps are solitary. Adults may be seen at flowers on in search of prey on the ground. These wasps are efficient fliers. | |
| Food | |
| A variety of spiders may be hosts, including wolf spiders (Lycosidae). Females hunt spiders. In some groups the females sting and paralyze prey and transport it to a specially constructed nest before laying an egg. Others leave the paralyzed spider in its nest and lay an egg upon it. | |
| Host | |
| A variety of spiders may be hosts, including wolf spiders (Lycosidae). | |
| Diversity | |
| ~300 species in about 40 genera in North America. About 5,000 species worldwide. | |
| Development | |
| Adult females paralyze spiders. Spiders are carried to a burrow where a single egg is laid on the abdomen of spider. The outermost chamber of the burrow is filled with dead ants that are a chemical barrier against predators. The larva hatches and feeds on the still-living spider, consuming its vital organs last. There are five instars. Pupation occurs in a silken cocoon. Eclosion typically occurs the following summer, but wasps may overwinter in the burrow. | |
CREDITS | |
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Photographer Brad Smith | |
References | |
| ITIS. | |
| Wikipedia | |
