Poecilopompilus mixtus (Fabricius)

Kurczewski, Frank E., West, Rick C., Waichert, Cecilia & Pitts, James P., 2022, Additional new and unusual host records for Western Hemisphere spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), Insecta Mundi 2022 (928), pp. 1-32 : 13-14

Poecilopompilus mixtus (Fabricius)

COSTA RICA: Alajuela Province, San Ramón; 1 September 2017; Y. Villalobos. Host: Misumena vatia (Clerck) (Thomisidae) . The wasp stood near the paralyzed crab spider as it laid, ventral side upward, on the ground ( Villalobos 2017). This host record is listed as Poecilopompilus sp. in Kurczewski et al. (2020b).

COSTA RICA: Alajuela Province, San Ramón, Soltis Center; May 2018; S. Marshall. Host: Unidentified species ( Thomisidae ), adult or subadult female. A photograph shows a wasp standing near the paralyzed crab spider as it laid, ventral side upward, on a leaf above the ground (Marshall, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 2020 pers. comm.; Pitts, 2020 pers. comm.). This host record is listed as Poecilopompilus sp. in Kurczewski et al. (2020b).

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Distrito Nacional, Santo Domingo; 27 November 2021, 1717 UTC; F. Paz. Host: Mecaphesa ? californica (Banks), adult or subadult female ( Thomisidae ). The wasp stood on a leaf and examined the immobilized crab spider which was cached, dorsal side upward, in the axil of the opposite leaf stem ( Paz 2021).

HAITI, Port-au-Prince Arrondissement, Kenscoff; 11 January 2015; R. Durocher. Host: Metazygia sp. (Araneidae) , adult or subadult female. The immobilized orb-weaver laid on its left side on vegetation while the wasp, with raised wings, stood beside it ( Durocher 2015).

PERU: Cusco Department, Manu National Park, Coche Cashu Biological Station ; 25 October 2021; P. Bertner. Host: Unidentified species ( Salticidae ), adult or subadult species. The wasp straddled the immobilized jumping spider, ventral side upward, and grasped its spinnerets with her mandibles. She amputated all but the prey’s hindlegs at the coxa-trochanter joints to facilitate forward transport ( Bertner 2021).