Episyron gallicum

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Episyron gallicum
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Pompilidae
Genus: Episyron
Species:
E. gallicum
Binomial name
Episyron gallicum
Tournier, 1889 [1]
Synonyms
  • Episyron intermediusHaupt, 1930
  • Episyron tertiusBluthgen, 1944
  • Pompilus gallicumTournier, 1889

Episyron gallicum is a spider-eating wasp which, as its specific name suggests, has a distribution centred on France.

Contents

Habits

It hunts terrestrial spiders which hunt their prey such as Wolf spiders as opposed to web weaving spiders. The spider is paralysed with a sting and then the helpless spider is sealed in a tunnel and the wasp lays an egg on it. The grub dines on the living spider when it hatches. [2]

Habitat

Open terrain with loose sandy soil. [3]

Distribution

Southern Europe but has recently expanded its range into Poland, Germany and the United Kingdom. [3]

References

  1. ↑ "Fauna Europaea - Episyron gallicum (Tournier, 1889)". Archived from the original on 9 July 2012.
  2. ↑ Roger Highfield (11 May 2006). "French wasp flies in to eat our spiders". Telegraph.co.uk.
  3. 1 2 http://www.bedslife.org.uk/documents/newsletters/BioNews%20Spring%2006.pdf, [ dead link ]


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