Pepsis mildei, also known as Milde's tarantula-hawk wasp, is a species of predatory spider wasp native to the Western Hemisphere. These wasps capture live tarantulas to feed to their larva; the adults graze on flowers.[1] Tarantula hawks generally have no meaningful predators.[2] The wing color is black and/or orange, with rare leucistic wing coloration known in males.[3][4] The wings of P. mildei are duller overall than those of Pepsis grossa or Pepsis cinnabarina.[5] Per Edward Essig, Milde's tarantula-hawk wasp usually measures 20–30 millimeters in length and is a metallic blue-black overall, with "the antennae reddish, dusky at extreme base in the male and the basal third dusky in the female; the wings fiery red with the bases and apices dusky".[5] In all tarantula wasps, the antennae can be used to distinguish between males and female: males are straight or gently arced, while the females have curved antennae.[6] The lifespan of males is one to two months, while female Milde's tarantula-hawk wasps live for a longer span of time.[1]
| Pepsis mildei | |
|---|---|
| |
| San Benito County, California, nectaring on milkweed | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Pompilidae |
| Subfamily: | Pepsinae |
| Genus: | Pepsis |
| Species: | P. mildei
|
| Binomial name | |
| Pepsis mildei (Stål, 1857)
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Pepsis hesperiæ | |
Range
editPepsis mildei's range appears to be North America and Central America.[7] In the U.S. this wasp is relatively common and widely distributed; it has been documented in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Arkansas.[4] P. mildei is one of four tarantula hawk species known to frequent Quitobaquito Springs at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Arizona, near the U.S.–Mexico border, along with Pepsis mexicana, Pepsis chrysothemis, and Pepsis pallidolimbata.[8]
Taxonomy
editThis species was synonymized with a species called Pepsis hesperiæ that was described by William Hampton Patton.[9] According to Paul David Hurd Jr. the Pepsis species angustimarginata and mildei "bear such a close morphological relationship that one is led to believe they arose from the identical ancestral stock."[4]
References
edit- ^ a b "Pepsis Wasp Fact Sheet". www.desertmuseum.org. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- ^ Schmidt, Justin O. (2004). "Venom and the Good Life in Tarantula Hawks (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae): How to Eat, Not Be Eaten, and Live Long". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society. 77 (4): 402–413. doi:10.2317/E-39.1. ISSN 0022-8567. JSTOR 25086231. S2CID 86401017.
- ^ "Species Pepsis mildei - Milde's Tarantula-hawk Wasp". bugguide.net. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- ^ a b c "Revision of the Nearctic species of the pompilid genus Pepsis (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae)". HathiTrust. pp. 274, 288–291. hdl:2027/umn.31951000458598o. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- ^ a b "Insects of western North America : a manual and textbook for students in colleges and universities and a handbook for county, state and federal entomologists ..." HathiTrust. pp. 883–884. hdl:2027/iau.31858046836296. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- ^ Hogue, Charles L.; Hogue, James N. (2015). Insects of the Los Angeles Basin (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. p. 359. ISBN 978-0938644-44-6. OCLC 910654655.
- ^ "Milde's Tarantula-hawk Wasp (Pepsis mildei)". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- ^ "A preliminary investigation of the arthropod fauna of Quitobaquito Springs Area, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Arizona / Kenneth J. Kingsaley, ..." HathiTrust. hdl:2027/mdp.39015033341242. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
- ^ Washington, Entomological Society of (1896). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. Entomological Society of Washington.
Further reading
edit- Punzo, Fred (October 2005). "EXPERIENCE AFFECTS HUNTING BEHAVIOR OF THE WASP, PEPSIS MILDEI STÅL (HYMENOPTERA: POMPILIDAE)". Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 113 (3 & 4): 222–229. doi:10.1664/0028-7199(2005)113[0222:EAHBOT]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0028-7199. JSTOR 25010528. S2CID 83557226.