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.
Episyron is a genus of wasps in the family Pompilidae which prey on spiders. Nine species are found in Europe.
The Pompilinae are a subfamily of the spider wasp family, Pompilidae, the species of which lay their eggs on the paralysed bodies of their prey.
Pompilus is a genus of spider wasps in the family Pompilidae, the members of which prey on spiders. There are seven species recognised in Pompilus sensu stricto. It is the type genus of the family Pompilidae and the subfamily Pompilinae.
The Pepsinae are a subfamily of the spider wasp family, Pompilidae, including the tarantula hawks, as well as smaller species.
Dipogon is a genus of spider wasps of the family Pompilidae in the subfamily Pepsinae. They are found in Europe, Asia, and North America. Their generic name comes from the characteristic long bristle tufts just below the mandibles, which are used to carry material to construct the cells in the nest, and for constructing the nest.
Auplopus is a large genus of spider wasps belonging to the subfamily Pepsinae of the spider wasp family Pompilidae, distributed throughout the world except for Antarctica. Auplopus wasps have the gruesome habit of amputating the legs of their spider prey before transporting it to the nest.
Ceropales is a genus of kleptoparasitic spider wasps from the sub-family Ceropalinae of the family Pompilidae. They are characterised by the taking of the spider prey of other solitary wasps, mainly Pompilidae but members of the Sphecidae that provision with spider prey are sometimes also hosts. In some languages their name translates into English as "cuckoo spider wasp".
Agenioideus is a genus of spider wasps from the subfamily Pompilinae; the genus occurs in Europe, where 21 species are recorded, eastwards to Japan, in North America, South America, and Australia.
Cyphononyx is a genus of spider hunting wasps in the family Pompilidae.
Batozonellus is a genus of the spider hunting wasps.
Ireangelus is a genus of kleptoparasitic spider wasps from the sub-family Ceropalinae of the family Pompilidae. The genus has a pan tropical distribution, being known from Oriental, Neotropical, Australian, eastern Palearctic, and Madagascan Zoogeographic regions being best represented in the Neotropics. Irenangelus is closely related to the more widespread genus Ceropales, the two genera forming a monophyletic subfamily, Ceropalinae within the Pompilidae. This is regarded as the most basal grouping of the Pompilidae but this view is problematic because of the kleptoparasitic life history of the Ceropalines, it is now considered that they Ceropalines and other pompilids evolved from a common ectoparasitoid ancestor.
Tachypompilus is a genus of spider wasps, found in the Neotropics Nearctic, eastern Palearctic, Indomalayan and Afrotropics.
Poecilopompilus is a fossorial genus of the family Pomplidae found in the New World. The main prey of these wasps are spiders of the family Araneidae.
Poecilopompilus interruptus is a species of New World spider wasps.
Hemipepsis is a genus of large pepsine spider wasps found throughout the tropics. They are commonly known as tarantula hawks. Hemipepsis wasps are morphologically similar to the related genera Pepsis and Entypus, but distinguishable by the pattern of wing venation. In South Africa 18 plant species from three plant families, the Apocynaceae, Orchidaceae, and Asparagaceae subfamily Scilloideae are pollinated exclusively by Hemipepsis wasps.
Pseudopompilus is a small genus of spider wasps in the subfamily Pompilinae and the tribe Psammoderini. which are found in southern Europe, the Middle East and southern Africa.
Entypus is a genus of spider wasps in the family Pompilidae. There are at least 40 described species in Entypus.
Notocyphus is a genus of spider wasps, belonging to the family Pompilidae. They are the only genus in the monotypic subfamily Notocyphinae. These wasps are found in the Nearctic and the Neotropics.
Ageniellini, known as the mud-nesting spider wasps, is a tribe of spider wasps in the subfamily Pepsinae.
