''Agenioideus nigricornis'', the redback spider-hunting wasp, is a species of
spider wasp
Wasps in the family Pompilidae are commonly called spider wasps, spider-hunting wasps, or pompilid wasps. The family is cosmopolitan, with some 5,000 species in six subfamilies. Nearly all species are solitary (with the exception of some group-ne ...
from the subfamily
Pompilinae
The Pompilinae are a subfamily of the spider wasp family, Pompilidae
Wasps in the family Pompilidae are commonly called spider wasps, spider-hunting wasps, or pompilid wasps. The family is cosmopolitan, with some 5,000 species in six subfamil ...
, found in Australia.
[Shimizu, A. & Wahis, R. 2009 Systematic studies on the Pompilidae occurring in Japan: Genus Agenioideus Ashmead (Hymenoptera), supplement, Entomological Science 12(3) 238–251] It is a
parasitoid of the venomous
redback spider
The redback spider (''Latrodectus hasselti''), also known as the Australian black widow, is a species of highly venomous spider believed to originate in South Australia or adjacent Western Australian deserts, but now found throughout Australi ...
(''Latrodectus hasseltii'').
[
]
Description
Females are 8.4–11.8mm in length. The head and mesosoma
The mesosoma is the middle part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the metasoma. It bears the legs, and, in the case of winged insects, the wings.
In hymenopterans of ...
are reddish-brown or orange-brown while the posterior parts of the wasp are black, the limbs and antennae are blackish brown. The wings are sooty in colour, darker basally and paler distally. The males are 4.33–12.64 mm in length and are almost completely black in colour apart from some orange markings around the eyes and on the mesosoma, although these are variable and some individuals may be completely black. The forelegs are largely orange brown but the rest of the legs are uniformly black.
Biology
The wasp was originally collected by the expedition of Captain James Cook
James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...
in 1768 and the specimens were described by Johan Christian Fabricius
Johan Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...
in 1775, and then largely forgotten. A wasp was then observed dragging a redback spider to its nest in a garden in Beaconsfield Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
in 2010.South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
.[ It is the first species of spider wasp to be recorded as a parasitoid of the redback spider.][
]
Distribution
''Agenioideus nigricornis'' is found in Australia where it is widespread but it is apparently absent from Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
.[
]
Potential uses
As the redback spider has been introduced into areas outside of Australia in New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and Japan, it has been suggested that ''Agenioideus nigricornis'' is potentially a biological control which can be used to control invasive populations of redback spiders.[
]
References
Pompilinae
Insects described in 1775
Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius
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