''Epipompilus insularis'' is a species of
spider wasp which is
endemic to
New Zealand and it is the only species of the genus ''
Epipompilus
''Epipompilus'' is a genus of spider wasps in the subfamily Pepsinae, part of the widespread family Pompilidae. Representatives of ''Epipompilus'' can be found in Australasia and North and South America. This distribution may indicate that ''Ep ...
'' found in New Zealand.
Description
A relatively small, mainly black spider wasp with yellowish tinged wings, which have a variable amount of dark colour at the tips. Females are around 6.0-8.8mm in length, males 3.5 -5.6mm.
In females there is an orange-red band on the
pronotum and this reduces in extent as one move southwards in New Zealand, until it is barely visible in specimens from latitude 42°S,
other coloured parts of the female such as the antennae bases also reduce in coloration the further south the specimen is obtained. Males are far less variable. This pattern appears to be an example of
Allen's rule and is seen in other New Zealand
Pompilids but is less marked in ''E. insularis'' due to its greater extent of sexual dimorphism with the males always being more uniformly dark.
Biology
''E. insularis'' females hunt, usually in sunshine for retreat-making spiders in the concealed places where female spiders retreat to, such as rolled dead leaves; hollow plant stems; flax bushes; dead rolled fronds of tree-ferns; the abandoned cocoons of the bag-moth ''
Liothula omnivora
''Liothula omnivora'', the common bag moth, is a psychid moth endemic to New Zealand. It is also known by several Māori vernacular names like the tūngou ngou,< ''whare atua'' ('house of the spirit') or ''kopi'' ('shut').
''; deserted galleries of wood-boring beetles; and even the empty hatched galls of the moth ''
Morova subfasciata'' in ''
Muehlenbeckia australis'' and beneath loose bark on tree trunks. When she finds a female prey spider the female ''E. insularis'' runs at it and as the spider lifts its legs to adopt a defensive posture she stings it and lays her egg before moving away. The paralysis is light and the host usually recovers quickly and resumes movement. ''E. insularis'' does not normally build a nest but the host is usually parasitised on or near its retreat or some time after being parasitised spins its own retreat, the wasp larva being quite tolerant of the host spider's movement. If the host was gravid any eggs laid may be eaten by the wasp larva as well as the host herself.
Prey species are known to come from a number of genera of spiders including ''
Trite'' and ''
Clubiona
''Clubiona'' is a genus of sac spiders that was first described by Pierre André Latreille in 1804.
Species
the genus contains 493 species and seven subspecies. These species and subspecies are found in Oceania, Africa, North America, the Carib ...
''.
Taxonomy
''E. insularis'' was placed by Evans in the subgenus ''Epipompiloides'' due to the structure of the male's subgenital plate which is very similar to that of ''E. bushi''.
of southern Australia but Evans (1972) stated that the subgenera of the Australian and Papuan ''Epipompilus'' are of dubious validity.
[Evans H.E. 1972 Revision of the Australian and New Guinean Species of ''Epipompilus'' (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) Pacific Insects 14 (1) : 101-131] ''E. australis'' is the
type species of the genus ''Epipompilus''.
References
Pompilidae
Insects described in 1884
Hymenoptera of New Zealand
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