Entypus unifasciatus cressoni (Banks)

Kurczewski, Frank E., West, Rick C. & Waichert, Cecilia, 2024, New host records for Nearctic and Neotropical spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), Insecta Mundi 2024 (34), pp. 1-32 : 13

Entypus unifasciatus cressoni (Banks)

ARIZONA: Cochise County, Huachuca Mountains, Scotia Canyon, Elevation 5980’; 16 April 2023; C. W. Melton. Host: Schizocosa mccooki (Montgomery) ( Lycosidae ), adult female. A large wolf spider ran out from a clump of dried grass onto a dirt road pursued by the spider wasp. A minute later two female spider wasps were observed fighting over possession of the paralyzed wolf spider, using their legs and mandibles. Eventually, one wasp left and the remaining wasp dragged the wolf spider into a hole at the base of a clump of grass. She grasped the spider, dorsal side upward, by its right pedipalp and walked backwards to the opening. The nest entrance was not closed and over the next few days this female entered and left the nest repeatedly inferring she roosted in the nest at night ( Melton 2023).

Schizocosa mccooki is a previously reported host spider for Entypus unifasciatus cressoni ( Kurczewski et al. 2022a) . This observation substantiates that E. unifasciatus cressoni makes multi-celled nests in soil cavities concealed among rocks, entangled rootlets, and other vegetation ( Kurczewski et al. 2022a).

MEXICO: Sonora State, Agua Prieta/Cabullona; 9 July 2022, 1758 MST; H. D. Pinto Santana. Host: Syspira sp. ( Miturgidae ) [det. D. T. Candia Ramírez ], adult female. Two photographs show the wasp examining the immobilized spider with her antennae as it laid dorsal side upward on the sand with its legs spread outward; and the wasp dragging the immobilized spider, dorsal side upward, backwards across sand and stones of a desert, grasping its left pedipalp with her mandibles ( Pinto Santana 2022).

Syspira sp. ( Miturgidae ) is an extremely rare host spider for Entypus unifasciatus cressoni with only two of 1087 (<0.2%) E. unifasciatus host records for this spider genus, both from southern California deserts ( Kurczewski et al. 2022a). The genus Syspira Simon sorely needs taxonomic revision.