Epipompilus Explained

Epipompilus is a genus of spider wasps in the subfamily Pepsinae, part of the widespread family Pompilidae. Representatives of Epipompilus can be found in Australasia and North and South America.[1] This distribution may indicate that Epipompilus evolved in Gondwana and is similar to other Gondwanan taxa such as the southern beech Nothofagus and Auracaria.

Epipompilus is found in North and South America, ranging from Argentina to extreme southern United States,[2] with around a dozen known species. One species, E. insularis is endemic to New Zealand. In Australia, the genus reaches its greatest diversity, with a greater number of species and a more varied spectrum of morphological features than among the American species. The Epipompilus species in New Guinea are notably brilliantly coloured and apparently highly evolved species. The genus is restricted to these areas but several Tertiary fossils from the northern hemisphere should probably be placed in Epipompilus.[1]

Ecology and behaviour

These wasps are scarce in collections, probably due to their small size and the fact that they rarely visit flowers. A single male E. turneri which was collected on Leptospermum in New South Wales is one of the few flower records. In Australia observation and collection have often been associated with the trunks of living Eucalyptus trees. The morphology of many of the species suggests that they are adapted for crawling under bark and for entering crevices to search for spiders. Prey recorded includes spiders from the family Sparassidae. These wasps probably do not build nests but hunt spiders underneath bark and lay eggs on them as they find them. Taken into consideration with the many primitive structural features of members of this genus, it is suggestive that the hunting technique of Epipompilus represents an ancestral type of behaviour for spider wasps.[1]

One of three new species identified in 2020, based on a single specimen seen in 2018, E. namadji, is named after the Namadgi National Park in the Australian Capital Territory, in which it was found. Efforts are ongoing by teams from the Australian National Insect Collection at the CSIRO to find more of the wasps, after nearly 80 per cent of the national park was lost in the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season.[3]

Species

The following species have been assigned to Epipompilus:[4] [5] [2] [6]

Notes and References

  1. Howard E. Evans . 1972 . Revision of the Australian and New Guinean species of Epipompilus (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) . . 14 . 1 . 101–131 . Howard Ensign Evans .
  2. Howard E. Evans . 1967 . Studies on the Neotropical Pompilidae (Hymenoptera). III. Additional notes on Epompilus Kohl . . 273 . 1–15 . Howard Ensign Evans .
  3. Web site: Jones . Ann . The quest to catalogue Australia's insect biodiversity using AI technology. ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. . 3 August 2021 . 3 August 2021.
  4. Howard E. Evans . 1962 . The genus Epipompilus in Australia . . 4 . 4 . 773–782 . Howard Ensign Evans .
  5. Rogério Silvestre, Tiago Henrique Auko & Vander Carbonari . 2010 . Insecta, Hymenoptera, Vespoidea, Pompilidae, Epipompilus aztecus (Cresson, 1869): first record in South America . . 6 . 4 . 483–484 . 10.15560/6.4.483 . free .
  6. Yuan . David . Rodriguez . Juanita . Three new species of Epipompilus Kohl (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae, Pepsinae) from Australia. . Magnolia Press . 4743 . 4 . 27 February 2020 . 1175-5334 . 10.11646/zootaxa.4743.4.7 . 575–584. 32230315 . 212784458 .

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