Evagetes crassicornis

Evagetes crassicornis is a kleptoparasitic spider wasp with a holarctic distribution.

Evagetes crassicornis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Pompilidae
Genus: Evagetes
Species:
E. crassicornis
Binomial name
Evagetes crassicornis
(Shuckard, 1857)
Synonyms[1]
  • Pompilus crassicornis Shuckard, 1857
  • Pompilus campestris Wesmael 1851
  • Pompilus dalbomi Thomson1870
  • Pompilus intermedius Schenck 1857
  • Evagetes leptophthalmus Wolf 1961
  • Evagetes pubescens Wolf 1958
  • Evagetes subarticus Wolf 1964

Description

A red and black spider hunting wasp[2] with fairly short and thick antennae with well-developed sensory powers which it uses to identify the nests of other spider wasps and tarsal combs on the forelegs for digging into these nests.[3]

Biology

In Great Britain and Ireland the flight period is May to September. E. crassicornis is a kleptoparasitic species probably preying on various species of spider wasp, although specific hosts have not been identified. It is thought that in Britain the hosts are Arachnospila anceps and Anoplius nigerrimus, and there is a European record of Arachnospila trivialis being parasitised. E. crassicornis spends a lot of time searching for the nests of its host species on open sunny ground.[2] Once the host's nest has been invaded E. crassicornis eats the hosts's egg and lays its own on the paralysed spider and then reseals the host's nest.[3]

Adult E. crassicornis visit a wide variety of open flowers which have short corollae, especially Apiaceae and Asteraceae.[2]

Habitat

Although E. crassicornis shows a preference for sandy habitats, it may be encountered on areas of open ground within a variety of habitats.[2]

Distribution

Northern and central Europe east to central Asia also in North America.[2]

Taxonomy

E. crassicornis forms a group with the closely related E.sahlbergii and E.orientalis.[4] It also has two subspecies which are

  • E.c.crassicornis (Shuckard)
  • E.c. consimilis (Banks) which is found only in western North America, E.c crassicornis replaces it in the east and north of that continent.[5]

References
  1. "Evagetes (Evagetes) crassicornis (Shuckard 1837)". Fauna Europaea. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  2. Edwards, R. & Telfer, M.G., eds. 2002. Provisional atlas of the aculeate Hymenoptera of Britain and Ireland. Part 4. Huntingdon: Biological Records Centre.
  3. Nature Conservation Imaging: The photographs of Jeremy Early http://www.natureconservationimaging.com/Pages/nature_conservation_imaging_biography.htm.
  4. Lelej, A.S. & Loktiniov, V.M. 2009 Review of the Evagetes crassicornis species-group (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), with description of new species Zootaxa 2230: 42–50 ISSN 1175-5334
  5. Wasbauer, M.S & Kimsey, L.S. 1985 California Spider Wasps of the Subfamily Pompilinae (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae) Bulletin of the California Insect Survey Vol 26 ISBN 0-520-09957-5
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