Parasitoidism of Aphonopelma hentzi (Girard, 1852) (Araneae: Theraphosidae) and first records of Pepsis mildei Stål, 1857 (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) in Missouri, U.S.A.
Parasitoidism of Aphonopelma hentzi (Girard, 1852) (Araneae: Theraphosidae) and first records of Pepsis mildei Stål, 1857 (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) in Missouri, U.S.A.
The life history of wasps in the genus Pepsis Fabricius, 1804, colloquially known as ‘tarantula hawk-wasps’ or ‘tarantula hawks’, has been described by Williams (1956). The female wasp paralyzes her host, most often a mygalomorph spider, with a venomous sting and buries it in a burrow. Before leaving, the wasp lays an egg on the spider’s abdomen, which hatches into a larva that feeds on the tarantula and develops through multiple instars before pupating and then digging out of the chamber as an adult. While some tarantula hawks parasitize non-tarantula spider families of Mygalomorphae, many parasitize Theraphosidae (tarantulas) exclusively. These host capture events are well documented, but few Pepsis sightings have been documented at the northeasternmost distributional limit of Theraphosidae in North America, namely, the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi River in east-central Missouri. This paper describes an observation of a species of Pepsis attempting to capture a host tarantula in the region and documents contemporary captures of Pepsis mildei Stål, 1857 in Missouri, a new record for the state and likely the species observed in the wasp-tarantula interaction.
Becky Hansis-O'Neill, Ted C. MacRae "Parasitoidism of Aphonopelma hentzi (Girard, 1852) (Araneae: Theraphosidae) and first records of Pepsis mildei Stål, 1857 (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) in Missouri, U.S.A.," The Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 101(4), 305-311, (31 December 2025)