Calopompilus pyrrhomelas (Walker)

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 : 3-4

Calopompilus pyrrhomelas (Walker)

CALIFORNIA: Alameda County, Oakland, Crocker Highlands; 12 September 2021, 1447 PDT; D. De Schrijver. Host: Calisoga longitarsis (Simon) (Nemesiidae) [det. M. Hedin, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA], immature. The wasp pulled the paralyzed false tarantula up a dirt slope, dorsal side upward, re-adjusting her grasp of the spider several times, then finally grasped the left patella of its rear leg with her mandibles before pulling it into a hole in the ground ( De Schrijver 2021; De Schrijver, San Jose, California, USA, pers. comm. 2021).

CALIFORNIA: Marin County, Tamalpais ; 19 September 2020, 1649 PDT; T. Brookshire. Host: Calisoga longitarsis [det. M. Hedin], adult male. The wasp attempted to re-sting the immobilized false tarantula as it laid on a sidewalk, dorsal side upward, while grasping the end of its second left leg with her mandibles ( Brookshire 2020) .

CALIFORNIA: Santa Clara County, Cupertino, Montebello Road, Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve; 13 September 2015; T. L. Hammond. Host: Calisoga longitarsis [det. M. Hedin], adult or subadult female, with abdomen and right rear leg detached and lying on the ground. The spider might have been mutilated by the adult wasp for feeding, by two adult wasps fighting over its possession, or by foraging ants that frequently amputate and carry off body parts. This observation does not support successful development of the wasp larva if an egg is laid on the spider’s abdomen. Nonetheless, the wasp dragged the mutilated false tarantula backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the middle of its right foreleg with her mandibles ( Hammond 2015). The wasp was initially misidentified as Pepsis pallidolimbata Lucas in Kurczewski et al. (2020b),