Spider Wasp - Pepsis menechma

Moved

Moved from Tarantula-hawk Wasps.

There've since been other records of this form in nearby counties of Oklahoma since, so it should be safe to call it.

… Jonathan Hoskins, 10 December, 2020 - 9:48pm

Moved

Moved from Pepsini.

… Jonathan Hoskins, 24 August, 2020 - 11:35pm

Moved

Moved from Spider Wasps.

… Nick Fensler, 18 August, 2013 - 8:41pm

Can't help with species,

but I enlarged the left photo & counted 13 antennomeres, which would make this a male. Are you sure it was in sting? Males of many wasps have a hardened, pointed terminal segment on the abdomen & will go through the motions as if stinging.

… Hartmut Wisch, 17 August, 2008 - 1:25pm

....

The stinger (or what I believe was a stinger) was very thin, needle-like (but much smaller diameter than a needle), and it was definitely going through the motions. But, I didn't give it the chance to see if it really would/could sting me. I would drop it every time it tried.
I believe it had a stinger but, like I said, I didn't let it sting me to find out for sure.

… Sam Houston, 17 August, 2008 - 3:39pm

I might have

made a mistake when counting segments. What looked like a joint to me close to the apex may not be one. The sting probably was a real one going by your description. They should still be around, either hunting for prey, or getting nectar in flowers.

… Hartmut Wisch, 19 August, 2008 - 10:37am

Reminds me...

strongly of Pepsis menechma, but it would be surprising to me to find one of this coloration that far west. Most individuals from Texas are orange-winged. However, at an inch long this wasp may be a little conservative size-wise to be a Pepsis. It's even a little small for some Entypus (several of the western species are adorned with bluish or violet reflections and have yellow flagella). It's pepsine, in any case, but the important part of the wings aren't visible to confirm or deny that it is Pepsis.

… Nick Fensler, 17 August, 2008 - 9:48am

....

What part of the wings are "the important part"....so I'll know next time.

… Sam Houston, 17 August, 2008 - 10:04am

Most of the time...

The apical half of the wing is important (often the area around the submarginal cells...the anterior, apical quarter of the anterior wing. However, there are a few cases when the basal part of the anterior wing or the posterior wing are important. It is best to try to get the entire anterior wing if possible, such as in a shot directly overlooking the dorsal side of the wasp (I know, easier said than done). "The important part" of the wing is often different from taxon to taxon.

… Nick Fensler, 17 August, 2008 - 10:33am