| Tachypompilus unicolor | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Pompilidae |
| Genus: | Tachypompilus |
| Species: | T. unicolor |
| Binomial name | |
| Tachypompilus unicolor | |
The red-tailed spider hunter [2] (Tachypompilus unicolor) is a species of spider wasp from western North America.
Especially in the subspecies T. u. cerinus, the body is often entirely red, with yellow, dark-margined wings. [3]
It is found in Southern California, including the northern Baja California and the Channel Islands, north to the Okanagan Valley, southern British Columbia, eastwards through southwestern Idaho to western South Dakota and northern Utah. [3]
Adults of T. unicolor feed at honeydew secretions and flowers. Females have been captured at honeydew from galls of Disholcapsis eldoradensis on Quercus lobata and at flowers of Asclepias erosa , Baccharis sarothroides , Chrysothamnus sp., Lepidospartum squamatum , and Wislizenia refracta . Males have been taken on the flowers of Calochortus catalinae , Hemizonia fasciculata , Rhamnus californica , and Xanthium spinosum . Both males and females visit the extrafloral nectaries of Helianthus and have been collected at flowers of Atriplex semibaccata , Cicuta sp., Eriogonum fasciculatum , Eriogonum gracile , and Foeniculum vulgare . [3] The flight period in California is from May to October, with a peak in July and August. [3]
A tarantula hawk is a spider wasp (Pompilidae) that preys on tarantulas. Tarantula hawks belong to any of the many species in the genera Pepsis and Hemipepsis. They are one of the largest parasitoid wasps, using their sting to paralyze their prey before dragging it to a brood nest as living food; a single egg is laid on the prey, hatching to a larva which eats the still-living prey.
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.
The calliope hummingbird is the smallest bird native to the United States and Canada. It has a western breeding range mainly from California to British Columbia, and migrates to the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and Central America for its wintering grounds. It was previously considered the only member of the genus Stellula, but recent evidence suggests placement in the genus Selasphorus. This bird was named after the Greek muse Calliope. The former genus name means "little star".
Anna's hummingbird is a medium-sized bird species of the family Trochilidae. It was named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli.
The African paradise flycatcher is a medium-sized passerine bird. The two central tail feathers of the male are extended into streamers that commonly are more than twice as long as the body. The female tail feathers are of moderate length and without streamers. The upper parts of the male body, wings, and tail are boldly coloured in chestnut or rusty shades, but the underparts and the head are variably grey to blue-gray, with the head of the mature male being darker, commonly glossy black with greenish highlights. The beak and other bare areas, including a wattle ring round the eye, match the colour of the surrounding feathers. The female coloration is similar, though not so showy and glossy and with the head paler.
The brown hairstreak is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. The range includes most of the Palaearctic.
The brown lanternshark or bristled lanternshark is a little-known species of deep-sea dogfish shark in the family Etmopteridae. It is found off Japan and New Zealand, and possibly also South Africa and Australia, typically deeper than 300 m (980 ft). This species can be distinguished from other lanternsharks by its coloration, which is a uniform dark gray or brown without the ventral surface being much darker and clearly delineated from the rest of the body. The brown lanternshark feeds on small bony fishes, cephalopods, and crustaceans. Reproduction is ovoviviparous, with females giving birth to 9–18 young. An unusually high proportion of individuals in Suruga Bay are hermaphrodites, with both male and female characteristics.
The blue-throated sapphire, also known as the blue-throated goldentail, is a species of hummingbird in the family Trochilidae. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and heavily degraded former forest.
The eastern double-collared sunbird is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is found in upland areas of Kenya and northern Tanzania.
Euphilotes battoides, the square-spotted blue or buckwheat blue, is a species of butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in western North America from Washington south to Baja California Norte and then west to southern Colorado and New Mexico.
The common rain spider, formerly P. natalius, is a species of huntsman spider native to Southern Africa. It is the most common and widespread species in the genus Palystes. Its distribution ranges from KwaZulu-Natal province in the east, then westwards to the provinces of Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West in the north, and Eastern Cape and Western Cape in the south. It has a body length of 15–36 mm and a leg span of up to 110mm. The species was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1875.
Aporus unicolor, common name cutpurse, is a highly specialised spider hunting wasp from the family Pompilidae.
Sphictostethus nitidus, the golden hunter wasp or red spider wasp, is a species of pepsid spider wasp endemic to New Zealand.
Palystes is a genus of huntsman spiders, commonly called rain spiders or lizard-eating spiders, occurring in Africa, India, Australia, and the Pacific. The most common and widespread species is P. superciliosus, found in South Africa, home to 12 species in the genus. The name Palystes is derived from either the Latin palaestes or the Greek palaistes, meaning "wrestler". The genus was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1875.
Tachypompilus is a genus of spider wasps, found in the Neotropics Nearctic, eastern Palearctic, Indomalayan and Afrotropics.
Tachypompilus analis, the red-tailed spider wasp is a species of spider wasp found in most of tropical and subtropical Asia, north to Japan. These spider wasps often hunt huntsman spiders.
The rain spider wasp or red-femora spider wasp is an Afrotropical species of spider wasp specialising in capturing spiders of the genus Palystes, the rain spiders.
Tachypompilus ferrugineus, the rusty spider wasp, red-tailed spider hunter, or sometimes red-tailed spider wasp is a species of spider wasp from the Americas. It preys mainly on wandering spiders, especially wolf spiders.
Poecilopompilus algidus is a species of spider wasp which is widespread in the Americas.
Poecilopompilus interruptus is a species of New World spider wasps.