Selenopidae (Arachnida: Araneae), a new host spider family for the spider wasp Tachypompilus ferrugineus (Say) (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae: Pompilini)

Authors

Frank E. Kurczewski, Atlanta, GAFollow
Rick C. West, Sooke, BC, CanadaFollow
Sarah C. Crews, California Academy of SciencesFollow
N. R. Jenzen-Jones, Churchlands, AustraliaFollow

Date of this Version

11-27-2020

Citation

Kurczewski FE, West RC, Crews SC, Jenzen-Jones NR. 2020. Selenopidae (Arachnida: Araneae), a new host spider family for the spider wasp Tachypompilus ferrugineus (Say) (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae: Pompilini). Insecta Mundi 0824: 1–6.

Comments

Creative Commons, Attribution Non-Commercial License,

Abstract

Four online photographs from Oaxaca, Mexico taken by N. R. Jenzen-Jones and posted on inaturalist.org reveal Selenops sp., probably S. mexicanus Keyserling (Arachnida: Araneae: Selenopidae), as a new host spider species, genus and family for the common and widespread American spider wasp Tachypompilus fer­rugineus (Say) (rusty spider wasp). The wasp transported the immobilized spider up an exterior stucco wall of a house, dorsal side upward, walking backwards for 3 m to her nest in a gap between the wooden planking and stucco wall beneath the roof, while grasping the femur of its right pedipalp with her mandibles.