Hemipepsis tamisieri

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.

Hemipepsis tamisieri
Hemipepsis tamisieri with its prey, a baboon spider (Theraphosidae).
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Pompilidae
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)

Distribution

This wasp 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] and rain spiders of the genus Palystes which are paralysed with the female's sting to provide a food for the wasp's larva.[5]

References
  1. "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. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2012.01216.x.
  4. Gess, Sarah K.; Gess, Fredereich W. (2014). "Wasps and Bees in Southern Africa" (PDF). SANBI Biodiversity Series. 24.
  5. "Hemipepsis tamisieri Guérin". Waspweb. Iziko Museums of South Africa. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
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