Hemipepsis

Hemipepsis
A male Hemipepsis ustulata on his perch lookout in the Sonoran Desert.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Superfamily: Pompiloidea
Family: Pompilidae
Subfamily: Pepsinae
Tribe: Pepsini
Genus: Hemipepsis
Dahlbom, 1844[1]

Hemipepsis is a genus of large pepsid 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.[2] In South Africa 18 plant species from three plant families, Apocynaceae, Orchidaceae and Asparagaceae subfamily Scilloideae are pollinated exclusively by Hemipepsis wasps.[3]

A Hemipepsis sp. wasp, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Species

There are 180 species in Hemipepsis and among those included are:[4][5][6][7]

References

  1. "Hemipepsis Dahlbom". GloIziko Museums of South Africa. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  2. "Genus Hemipepsis - Tarantula Hawks". Iowa State University. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  3. 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.
  4. "Taxonomy for Hemipepsis (Tarantula Hawks)". insectoid.org. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  5. van der Vecht, J. (1953). "Indo-Australian Pompilidae II. An annotated list of the oriental species of the genus Hemipepsis (Dahlb)". Treubia. 22 (1): 1–17.
  6. "Digitized type collection, details, simple view - zmuc00241286". University of Copenhagen. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  7. Fernadez, Fernando (2000). "Avispas cazadores de aranas (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae) de la Region Neotropical" (PDF). Biota Colombia. 1 (1): 3–25.
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