''Cryptocheilus australis'', the golden spider wasp, is an Australian pepsid spider wasp that was accidentally introduced to New Zealand around .

Description

The adults are a rich reddish yellow colour giving rise to the

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

name golden spider wasp. Females are in length while males are .

Biology

Hunting females mainly use vision but antennal chemoreception plays some role. The prey in New Zealand is usually a spider from the family Pisauridae which the wasp pursues until it stops and cowers, when the wasp rushes at it, stinging it twice. When the spider collapses, it has its dorsum up and the wasp then slowly curves its abdomen beneath the spider's

prosoma The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

and carefully stabs the prosomal venter, examines the pedipalps, walks over the spider, then stings it a second time on the prosomal venter. After being stung so many times the paralysis is strong; stung spiders do not subsequently recover movement of their legs. The female wasp holds the prey spider by the chelicerae and walks backwards, dragging it dorsum uppermost. When a female carrying prey periodically leaves the spider to inspect its nest, the spider is left exposed, dorsum uppermost, and is temporarily hidden. Nests are made in pre-existing cavities under stones, in cracks in exposed compacted clay, in unmodified clay, and beside stumps, posts, etc. A complete cell and cell-passage is constructed before the female ''C. australis'' start to hunt. Paralysed spiders are placed in the cells facing away from the cell entrance. After the female has oviposted on the spider she fills a 20–27 mm length of the cell-passage with compacted earth. The main burrow of the nest and its external entrance are kept open for the duration the nesting cycle. The males emerge first, 3–8 days before the females and gather around the nests, often entering them and sometimes assisting the females to hatch before mating with the docile, newly emerged females. After around two days the females commence hunting and may re-use old nests but construct new cells. In New Zealand adults have been seen feeding on '' Leptospermum scoparium'' flowers but umbellifers are the favoured flowers for nectaring.

Distribution

Native to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

and south-eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, introduced to New Zealand where they are now found from the North Cape to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5190862 Pepsinae Insects described in 1830 Hymenoptera of New Zealand