| Episyron rufipes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Episyron rufipes (Pompilidae sp.), Texel, the Netherlands | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Pompilidae |
| Genus: | Episyron |
| Species: | E. rufipes |
| Binomial name | |
| Episyron rufipes | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
Sphex rufipesLinnaeus, 1758 | |
Episyron rufipes, the red-legged spider wasp, is a red and black or completely black spider-hunting wasp.
8–12.5 mm in length. Adults are mainly black with white spots on the abdomen with the two rear legs having the middle leg, tibia and femur coloured red. [2]
Associated with dry sandy habitats such as coastal dunes, landslips and grasslands; as well as inland heathlands [3] (e.g. Breckland), gravel pits and gardens on sandy soils. [4]
Excavates burrows in loose sandy soil using specialised tarsal combs often in aggregations of burrows created by females. [5] The burrows are usually stocked with orb-spiders, mainly Meta and Araneus spp. although Lycosidae may also be predated. The prey are temporarily hung on a nearby plant whilst the burrow is dug. Some females steal the prey captured by its neighbour and females will even fight for the possession of another female's prey, i.e. kleptoparasitism. Eventually some females learn to steal the spiders in the burrow, either by driving away the rightful owner while she was sealing up the burrow, or by hunting through the soil around the aggregated burrows to find sealed burrows. [5]
In Britain the flight period of adults is June to August. [4]
Both sexes of Episyron rufipes are often seen visiting the flowers of umbellifers for nectar. [3]
Episyron rufipes nests are parasitised by the spider wasp Evagetes pectinipes ; the female of which eats the egg of Episyron and then replaces it with her own egg before the nest is resealed. E . rufipes is also parasitised by Ceropales maculata . [3]
Western Europe to Central Asia. In Britain, it is widespread and locally common in coastal areas of the south as far north as Yorkshire and Lancashire. It is less common in the north. [4]
Wasps in the family Pompilidae are commonly called spider wasps, spider-hunting wasps, or pompilid wasps. The family is cosmopolitan, with some 5,000 species in six subfamilies. Nearly all species are solitary, and most capture and paralyze prey, though members of the subfamily Ceropalinae are kleptoparasites of other pompilids, or ectoparasitoids of living spiders.
Sphecius speciosus, often simply referred to as the cicada killer or the cicada hawk, is a large, solitary digger wasp species in the family Crabronidae. The name may be applied to any species of crabronid that preys on cicadas, though in North America, it is typically applied to this species, also referred to as the eastern cicada killer in order to further differentiate it from the multiple other examples of related wasp species. Sometimes, they are called sand hornets, although they are not hornets, which belong to the family Vespidae. This species can be found in the Eastern and Midwest U.S. and southwards into Mexico and Central America. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them. Cicada killers exert a measure of natural control on cicada populations, and as such, they may directly benefit the deciduous trees upon which the cicadas feed.
The European beewolf, also known as the bee-killer wasp or the bee-eating philanthus, is a solitary wasp that lives in the Western Palearctic and Afrotropics. Although the adults of the species are herbivores, the species derives its name from the behaviour of the inseminated females, who hunt Western honey bees. The female places several of its paralysed prey together with an egg in a small underground chamber, to serve as food for the wasp larvae. All members of the genus Philanthus hunt various species of bees, but P. triangulum is apparently the only one that specialises in Western honey bees.
Philanthus gibbosus, the hump-backed beewolf, 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.
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as bees and ants are deeply nested within the wasps, having evolved from wasp ancestors. Wasps that are members of the clade Aculeata can sting their prey.
Cerceris fumipennis, the only species of buprestid-hunting Crabronidae occurring in eastern North America, is found throughout the continental United States east of the Rockies: from Texas and Florida north to Maine, Wyoming, and into Canada. The wasps most often nest in open areas of hard-packed sandy soil surrounded by woody habitat suitable for their buprestid beetle prey.
Ammophila sabulosa, the red-banded sand wasp, is a species of the subfamily Ammophilinae of the solitary hunting wasp family Sphecidae, also called digger wasps. Found across Eurasia, the parasitoid wasp is notable for the mass provisioning behaviour of the females, hunting caterpillars mainly on sunny days, paralysing them with a sting, and burying them in a burrow with a single egg. The species is also remarkable for the extent to which females parasitise their own species, either stealing prey from nests of other females to provision their own nests, or in brood parasitism, removing the other female's egg and laying one of her own instead.
Episyron quinquenotatus, the white-trimmed black wasp, is a North American species of pompilid spider hunting wasp.
Pompilus cinereus, the leaden spider wasp is the most widespread species of the Pompilus spider wasps, and throughout a large proportion of its wide distribution is the only species of Pompilus. It is the type species of the genus Pompilus and therefore of the family Pompilidae.
Auplopus carbonarius is a spider wasp of the family Pompilidae. Uniquely among the British group it constructs a nest of barrel-shaped cells in which spiders are stored and the larvae develop. The British common name is sometimes given as the potter spider wasp or the yellow-faced spider wasp.
Ceropales maculata is a kleptoparasitic spider wasp found in the holoarctic region.
Sphictostethus nitidus, the golden hunter wasp or red spider wasp, is a species of pepsid spider wasp endemic to New Zealand.
Evagetes crassicornis is a kleptoparasitic spider wasp with a holarctic distribution.
Arachnospila anceps is one of the more common spider wasps of western Europe.
Arachnospila trivialis is a widespread spider wasp of sandy soil areas of the Palaearctic.
Agenioideus cinctellus is a spider wasp of the subfamily Pompilinae with a Palearctic distribution.
Caliadurgus fasciatellus is a species of spider wasp from the subfamily Pepsinae found from Western Europe to the Far East of Asia.
Ammophila urnaria is a species of hunting wasp in the family Sphecidae. It is a black and red insect native to the eastern United States. It feeds on nectar but catches and paralyses caterpillars to leave in underground chambers for its developing larvae to consume.
Anoplius viaticus, commonly known as the black-banded spider wasp, is a species of spider wasp. These wasps are known as spider wasps because the females capture spiders to provide their offspring with food. The paralysed spider is cached in a burrow, the wasp lays an egg on it, and when this hatches, the developing wasp larva consumes the spider. This species is found in sandy heathland across most of Europe.
Anoplius infuscatus is a species of spider wasp found mainly in Eurasia.
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