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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets (Vespoidea) » Spider Wasps (Pompilidae) » Tarantula Hawks (Pepsis) » Pepsis menechma

Species Pepsis menechma

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Elegant Tarantula Hawk - Pepsis menechma - female

Tarantula Hawk - Pepsis menechma - female

Purple Wasp with Golden Antenae - Pepsis menechma

Tarantula Hawk or Entypus? - Pepsis menechma

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

No Taxon (Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps)

Superfamily Vespoidea (Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets)

Family Pompilidae (Spider Wasps)

Genus Pepsis (Tarantula Hawks)

Species menechma (Pepsis menechma)

Other Common Names

Elegant Tarantula Hawk (coinage based on Latin name, and common name for Pepsis, though this species may not prey on tarantulas)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Pepsis elegans and its western counterpart Pepsis cerberus have been synonymized under Pepsis menechma (George Waldren, in comments here).

Size

Circa 20-25 mm. A specimen from North Carolina measured 22 mm body length.

Identification

Large, blue-black wasp with orange antennae. Wings orange or black.

Likely mimicked by an Ichneumon, Gnamptopelta obsidianator:

Range

Includes eastern and central United States. Noted from Missouri, North Carolina, Florida. Apparently the only Pepsis in the east.

Season

Summer-early fall. June-September (North Carolina).

Food

Adults take nectar.

Life Cycle

Presumably provisions nest with spiders, but not tarantulas, since much of this wasp's range is outside of that of tarantulas. They likely prey on Trapdoor spiders, as this reference from Univ. California, Riverside, says that Pepsis prey on "trapdoor spiders and tarantulas".

Remarks

Pepsis elegans and Pepsis cerberus (its Western counterpart) have recently been synonymized under the name Pepsis menechma.

See Also

Entypus, a related genus of large Spider Wasps. See also the Ichneumon, Gnamptopelta obsidianator.

Print References

Brimley, p. 432, lists season in North Carolina. (1)

Hurd, Paul, 1952. Revision of the Neartic Species of the Pompilid Genus Pepsis. AMNH Bulletin, 98(4). (Reference from Jeff Hollenbeck.)

Internet References

North Carolina State University Entomology Collection--55 pinned, including specimens from that state.

Insects of Tyson--Missouri

Works Cited

1.	Insects of North Carolina By C.S. Brimley

Contributed by Cotinis on 3 August, 2005 - 11:06pm
Additional contributions by waspGeorge
Last updated 16 August, 2007 - 8:24am

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