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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 » Aporini » Psorthaspis » Psorthaspis mariae

Species Psorthaspis mariae

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Spider wasp - Psorthaspis mariae - 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 Aporini

Genus Psorthaspis

Species mariae (Psorthaspis mariae)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Psorthaspis mariae (Cresson) 1867

Pompilus? mariae Cresson 1867

Pompilus (Pedinapsis) mariae Fox 1897

Pedinaspis mariae Banks 1911

Pedinaspis mariae var. antennalis Banks 1921

Explanation of Names

No doubt named mariae in honor of Cresson's wife (married 1859), Mary Ann Ridings Cresson (1837-1909; gravesite). (1)

Size

Female: 14 mm length (guide image)

Identification

See discussion under images.

Range

Eastern United States, especially Southeast. Type specimen is from Pennsylvania (Cresson, 1867). Guide images here are from New Jersey southward, west to Arkansas and Missouri.

Remarks

Historical notes. The author of this species is American entomologist Ezra Townsend Cresson (1838-1926). The wasp was no doubt named "mariae" in honor of his wife (married 1859), Mary Ann Ridings Cresson (1837-1909).

Cresson has interesting family associations. His father was Warder Cresson (1798 – 1860), first United States Consul to Jerusalem. Warder was something of a religious fanatic and in 1844 abandoned his family in the US to live in Jerusalem, starting a second family there.

Print References

Cresson, E.T. 1867. Notes on the Pompilidae of North America, with descriptions of new species. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 1: 108-9. (original description--BHL link--listed as Pompilus (?) mariae)

Internet References

North Carolina State University Entomology Collection lists for that state, with 4 specimens pinned (dead link)

Works Cited

1.	American Entomologists Arnold Mallis. 1971. Rutgers University Press.

Contributed by Eric R. Eaton on 13 February, 2006 - 6:08pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, hraney, Robert H. Biagi
Last updated 17 April, 2024 - 9:02am

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