First Records of the Spider Wasp Entypus ochrocerus Dahlbom (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae: Pepsinae) from the Continental United States, Jamaica, and the Bahamas

Authors

Frank E. Kurczewski, Atlanta, Georgia, United StatesFollow
Rick C. West, Sooke, British Columbia, CanadaFollow
Dionne Newell, Natural History Museum of JamaicaFollow
Scott Johnson, Wild BahamasFollow

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

11-29-2024

Citation

Insecta Mundi (November 29, 2024) 1081

Published by the Center for Systematic Entomology, Gainesville, Florida

Review editor: Kevin Williams

ZooBank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:CBC93E5B-B1A0-4D2C-9624-A197FFD9BF22

Comments

Copyright 2024, the authors. Open access

License: CC BY-NC 3.0

Abstract

A small population of Entypus ochrocerus Dahlbom, a predominantly Greater Antilles spider wasp (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae: Pepsinae), is reported for the first time from the continental United States based on photographs and associated information from iNaturalist.org. The species was initially misidentified online as E. unifasciatus unifasciatus (Say) or Entypus sp. However, Entypus u. unifasciatus individuals from east of the 100th Meridian in the United States typically have melanochromatic (dark) wings with a subapical xanthochromatic (orange-amber) patch. Entypus ochrocerus from Miami-Dade County, Florida is differentiated from E. u. unifasciatus by its black body with dark greenish blue reflections and orange-amber forewings with narrow basal and rather broad apical infuscation. Entypus ochrocerus was photographed at 13 sites in a ~60 square miles (155 sq km), heavily urbanized area of the Miami Ridge/Atlantic Coastal Strip Level III Ecoregion characterized by moderately deep, well drained, rapidly permeable soils on coastal sand ridges with scrub vegetation. The capture of Hogna carolinensis (Walckenaer) (Araneae: Lycosidae) as host spider by E. ochrocerus in Florida confirms similar host capture behavior of H. ?reducta (Bryant) in the Dominican Republic. We also introduce the first records of E. ochrocerus from the island of Jamaica based on 15 pinned museum specimens from various Jamaica localities. Photographs of E. ochrocerus and associated information from East Grand Bahamas, Grand Bahama Island represent the first definitive evidence of this species in the Bahamas. Every major island group in the Greater Antilles plus Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA, has a population of E. ochrocerus.