Tarantula Hawk - Pepsis

gender correction + emailed for help

I just read that the males have straight antennae, female are curled, so I changed this to male. I've sent an email to somebody that knew a lot about these from a previous post. I'm also going to see about posting a wing blowup for the vein pattern, etc. I'd like to get it to Pepsis or Hemipsiis if possible.

… Andrew Williams, 2 May, 2009 - 11:22am

Good going.

Don't put a lot of stock in the antennae thing, tho. I'd heard that too, then heard that males curl their antennae when angry, then shot a wasp with one curved and one straight antenna.

Wing blowup is a good idea.

Sometimes, people find new ways to look at insects, and sometimes, experts with a different slant on things show up at a later date. Point is, there's always hope, particularly with good photos like this. (I've recently seen several insects IDed a couple years after they were posted.)

… Ron Hemberger, 2 May, 2009 - 4:23pm

I think I found it for you!

Could it be P. thisbe? The coloration and body structure match up! I hope this helps!

… Breanna Lyle, 2 May, 2009 - 8:57am

thanks

Thanks for working on the wasp ID. You might just be right with the P.thisbe. Guess we'll have to wait for a wasp expert to know for sure. Anyway, I appreciate the help.

… Andrew Williams, 2 May, 2009 - 9:02pm

These are tough to ID from photos.

Generally, you'll get either expert commentary on posts like this, or nothing at all.

Even ID to genus is difficult. See http://bugguide.net/node/view/3921. There's info on wing venation (veins) there, and that could lead to genus.

The safe place to move this is to family, i.e. spider wasps.

… Ron Hemberger, 2 May, 2009 - 10:26am

Maybe

I think you are right on the genus, not sure about species though.

… Breanna Lyle, 2 May, 2009 - 8:54am

Nice shot.

These are often hard to ID, but here's hoping!

… Ron Hemberger, 27 April, 2009 - 11:35am