ENY 3005 Family Identification

Hymenoptera: Pompilidae Pronunciation: pom-PILL-li-dee Common name: spider wasps

Identifying characteristics for the family Pompilidae include:

• A long-legged wasp, hind femora often extending beyond tip of abdomen.
• Wings not folded flat on top of abdomen.
• Mesopleuron with a transverse suture.
• Like the Vespidae, the Pompilidae have the pronotum extending back to the tegulae, the pronotum thus appearing triangular when viewed from the side and horseshoe-shaped when viewed from above.

• Spider wasps prey on spiders. Some species sting and paralyze their prey and then transport it to a specially constructed nest before laying an egg. Other species leave the paralyzed spider in its nest and lay an egg upon it.

References:

• Page 346 and plate 16 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Page 385 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
• Page 735 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.
• Page 593 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.