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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Spider Wasps, Velvet Ants and allies (Pompiloidea) » Spider Wasps (Pompilidae) » Pompilinae » Pompilini » Tachypompilus

Genus Tachypompilus

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References
Big Red & Black Wasp ID Request - Tachypompilus ferrugineus - male Spider Wasp - Tachypompilus ferrugineus Wasp - Tachypompilus ferrugineus Tachypompilus? - Tachypompilus unicolor - male red wasp-like insect - Tachypompilus ferrugineus Reddish Spider Wasp? - Tachypompilus ferrugineus - female red wasp with black wings - Tachypompilus ferrugineus Tachypompilus unicolor? - Tachypompilus unicolor - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Pompiloidea (Spider Wasps, Velvet Ants and allies)
Family Pompilidae (Spider Wasps)
Subfamily Pompilinae
Tribe Pompilini
Genus Tachypompilus
Other Common Names
Red spider wasps (note: also applies to several members of Ageniella and Priocnessus)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Tachypompilus Ashmead, 1902
Numbers
2 spp. in our area (T. ferrugineus and T. unicolor).
Size
12-25 mm; females>males.
Identification
This genus belongs to the subfamily Pompilinae, tribe Pompilini and is identified by the following characters:
Spines at apex of hind tibia of unequal length and spacing.
Hind tibia always smooth in nearctic species.
Dorsal side of hind femur with at least a few spine pits.
Pocket in the basioposterior corner of the third discal cell.
Labrum at least partially concealed.
Females of this genus possess a tarsal comb.

This genus is characterized by the following:
Anal vein of posterior wing meeting the media at or before the origin of the cubitus.
Front with a blunt tubercle between the antennal orbits.
Pronotum with a median impression.
Integument mostly ferruginous with some black (except one all black subspecies of T. ferrugineus.
Range
Transcontinental. T. unicolor is restricted to the western states.
Habitat
Varied, but they are usually found in open habitats.
Season
In the northern states mainly June through September, probably longer in the south.
Food
Adults are often found taking nectar from flowers (Daucus, Pastinaca, and Eryngium). Females provision nests mainly with Lycosids.
Life Cycle
Females are fossorial or partly fossorial. They will often construct a cell within a rock pile or near the foundation of an old building. In much of the country there is one generation per year, possibly two in the south.
See Also
The only other pompiline genus marked with this much ferruginous is Poecilopompilus.

Poecilopompilus algidus algidus

There are, however, ferruginous pepsine species in the genera Ageniella and Priocnessus.

Ageniella coronata (left) and Priocnessus nuperus (right)
Print References
Evans, H.E. 1950. A taxonomic study of the nearctic spider wasps belonging to the tribe pompilini, Part I. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 75: 133-270.
Krombein, K.V. 1979. Pompilidae, pp. 1523-1571. In Krombein, K.V., P.D. Hurd, Jr., D.R. Smith, and B.D. Burks, eds. Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico. Vol. 2 Apocrita (Aculeata). Smithsonian Inst. Press, Washington, D.C.
Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 7 September, 2005 - 1:13pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, NFensler, PaleoJon
Last updated 2 July, 2022 - 10:23pm

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