Pepsis grossa

Pepsis grossa (Fabricius)

AR: Yell County, Blue Mountain Lake; 30 July 2011; E. E. Lundgaard. Host: Aphonopelma cf hentzi, adult female.

The wasp grasped the paralyzed tarantula by its right pedipalp with her mandibles and dragged it backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward (Lundgaard 2011).

AZ: Pima County, Catalina State Park, near Tucson; 11 September 2012; G. Campbell. Host: Aphonopelma cf chalcodes, subadult female. The wasp stung, paralyzed and examined the tarantula with her antennae as it laid ventral side upward on a large rock (Campbell 2012).

OK: Pontotoc County, 11 km W of Ada; 9 July 2016; W. Edens. Host: Aphonopelma cf hentzi, adult female. The wasp examined the paralyzed tarantula with her antennae and mouthparts as it laid ventral side upward on the ground (Edens 2016).

TX: Brewster County, Big Bend National Park; 11 July 2005; D. J. Leavitt. Host: Aphonopelma cf hentzi, adult or subadult female. The wasp grasped the paralyzed tarantula by the base of its left foreleg with her mandibles and pulled it backwards on the ground (Leavitt 2012).

TX: Cameron County, Bayview; 10 November 2007; D. Crispin. Host: Aphonopelma cf hentzi, adult or penultimate female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed tarantula backwards, dorsal side upward, grasping the spider’s left chelicera with her mandibles (Crispin 2007).

TX: Cameron County, Bayview; 12 November 2007; DoubleDutch. Host: Aphonopelma cf anax (Chamberlin) (Texas tan tarantula), adult female. The wasp grasped the paralyzed tarantula by the base of its 2 nd right leg and pulled it backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, through grasses (DoubleDutch 2007).

TX: Cameron County, Harlingen; 18 April 2017, 1937 (CDT); T. Henehan. Host: Aphonopelma cf anax, subadult female. The wasp grasped the paralyzed tarantula by the base of its left foreleg with her mandibles, dorsal side upward, and dragged it backwards on the ground through brush (Henehan 2017).

TX: Hays County, S of Austin; 26 August 2010, 2000 – 2200 (CDT); B. Ormand. Host: Aphonopelma cf hentzi, adult female. The wasp dragged the spider backwards on the ground through vegetation, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its left foreleg with her mandibles (Ormand 2010).

TX: Travis County, Greater Austin Metro Area, Wolf House Estate; 7 September 2013; C. Hanks. Host: Aphonopelma cf armada (Chamberlin), adult female. The wasp grasped the paralyzed tarantula by its left forecoxa with her mandibles and pulled it backwards, dorsal side upward, on the ground (Hanks 2013).

TX: Travis County, Greater Austin Metro Area, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center; 7 September 2017; M. Marr. Host: Aphonopelma cf armada, adult female. The wasp grasped the paralyzed tarantula by its right forecoxa with her mandibles and, maintaining it dorsal side upward, dragged it backwards on the ground (Marr 2017).

TX: Uvalde County, Uvalde; 5 June 2006; J. Penney. Host: Aphonopelma cf gabeli, adult male. The wasp pulled the much larger and heavier paralyzed tarantula up a vertical surface with considerable difficulty, grasping the base of its left foreleg with her mandibles (Penney 2006).

TX: Uvalde County, Sabinal; 10 September 2010; K. Cave. Host: Aphonopelma cf anax, adult female. The wasp returned to the paralyzed tarantula as it laid ventral side upward on the ground, 10 minutes after stinging it (Cave 2010).

TX: Webb County, near Laredo; 14 July 2004; T. Stoltey. Host: Aphonopelma cf anax, adult female, 51 mm (wasp, 46 mm) (Stoltey 2006).

MEXICO: Chihuahua State, Chihuahua; 30 June 2017; A. Peña. Host: Aphonopelma cf pallidum (F. O. P.-Cambridge) (Theraphosidae) (Mexican gray tarantula), adult or subadult female. The wasp examined the paralyzed tarantula with her antennae as it laid on its right side on the ground (Peña 2017).

MEXICO: Colima State, Colima; 9 October 2018; L. A. P. Rodríguez. Host: Brachypelma hamorii Tesmoignt, Cleton and Verdez (Theraphosidae) (Mexican orangeknee tarantula), adult or subadult female. The wasp stood over the paralyzed tarantula as it laid on the ground, ventral side upward, and examined it with her antennae. She then dragged the paralyzed tarantula through short grass on the ground, dorsal side upward, while grasping the base of its chelicera with her mandibles (L. Rodríguez, Colima, Mexico, 2018 pers. comm.).