Hemipepsis tamisieri

Hemipepsis tamisieri
Hemipepsis tamisieri with its prey, a Baboon Spider (Theraphosidae).
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Pompiloidea
Family: Pompilidae
Subfamily: Pepsinae
Tribe: Pepsini
Genus: Hemipepsis
Species: H. tamisieri
Binomial name
Hemipepsis tamisieri
(Guérin, 1848)[1]
Synonyms[1]
  • Mygnimia distanti Saussure, 1892
  • Pompilus tamisieri Guérin, 1848
  • Priocnemis rufopictus Radoszkowski, 1876
  • Salius rufopictus Radoszkowski
  • Salius tamisieri (Guerin, 1848)

Hemipepsis tamisieri is a species of Afrotropical pepsid spider wasp, one of the so-called tarantula hawks because its preferred prey are tarantulas of the family Theraphosidae.

Distribution

This was p has been recorded from Uganda, Ethiopia, Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, but is probably widespread in Africa south of the Sahara.[2]

Biology

The adults feed on the nectar of various flowers, many of which are specialised to be pollinated by this species and its cogeners.[3] The females hunt on the ground for spiders of the family Theraphosidae.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Hemipepsis tamisieri (Guerin, 1848)". GBIF.org. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Taxonomy for Hemipepsis tamisieri (Guérin, 1848)". insectoid.org. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  3. ↑ Shuttleworth, Adam; Johnson, Steven D. (2012). "The Hemipepsis wasp-pollination system in South Africa: a comparative analysis of trait convergence in a highly specialized plant guild". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 168 (3): 278–279.
  4. ↑ Gess, Sarah K.; Gess, Fredereich W. (2014). "Wasps and Bees in Southern Africa" (PDF). SANBI Biodiversity Series. 24.
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