Hemipepsis

Hemipepsis
Hemipepsis capensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Pompilidae
Subfamily: Pepsinae
Genus: Hemipepsis
Dahlbom, 1843[1]
Type species
Hemipepsis capensis
(Fabricius, 1781)[2]

Hemipepsis is a genus of large pepsine spider wasps found throughout the tropics. They are commonly known as tarantula hawks. Hemipepsis wasps are morphologically similar to the related genera Pepsis and Entypus, but distinguishable by the pattern of wing venation.[3] In South Africa 18 plant species from three plant families, the Apocynaceae, Orchidaceae, and Asparagaceae subfamily Scilloideae are pollinated exclusively by Hemipepsis wasps.[4]

A Hemipepsis sp. wasp, Kruger National Park, South Africa
A female Hemipepsis sp. wasp dragging a paralyzed tarantula, Sandy Bay, South Africa
  1. ^ Waichert, Cecília; Rodriguez, Juanita; von Dohlen, Carol D.; Pitts, James P. (2012). "Spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) of the Dominican Republic". Zootaxa. 3353 (1): 1–47. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3353.1.1.
  2. ^ V.S.L. Pate (1946). "The Generic Names of the Spider Wasps (Psammocharidae olim Pompilidae) and Their Type Species (Hymenoptera: Aculeata)". Transactions of the American Entomological Society. 72 (3): 65–137. JSTOR 25077544.
  3. ^ "Genus Hemipepsis - Tarantula Hawks". Iowa State University. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  4. ^ Shuttleworth, Adam; Johnson, Steven D. (2012). "The Hemipepsis wasp-pollination system in South Africa: a comparative analysis of trait convergence in a highly specialized plant guild". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 168 (3): 278–279. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2012.01216.x.