Pepsis mildei Stål

Kurczewski, Frank E., West, Rick C., Waichert, Cecilia, Kissane, Kelly C., Ubick, Darrell & Pitts, James P., 2020, New and unusual host records for North American and South American spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), Zootaxa 4891 (1), pp. 1-112 : 20-21

Pepsis mildei Stål (orange-winged variant) (Milde’s tarantula hawk)

CA: Los Angeles County, San Gabriel Mountains, N of Altadena; 19 June 2011; N. Bradley. Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri , adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed tarantula backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its 2 nd left leg with her mandibles ( Bradley 2011).

CA: Los Angeles County, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa; August 2014; J. Guldimann. Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri , adult female. The wasp touched the tarantula with her antennae prompting the spider to rear up on its legs and expose its chelicerae. The wasp turned the tarantula onto its side and hurriedly stung it more than once in its cephalothorax, paralyzing it in a dorsal side upward position. She then grasped the paralyzed tarantula by its right chelicera with her mandibles and dragged it backwards on the ground ( Guldimann 2014).

CA: San Diego County, N of Barrett Junction; 24 August 2015, 1829 (PDT); D. Palmer. Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri , adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed A. steindachneri through thick non-native Bromus cover, grasping the base of its left foreleg with her mandibles. Many P. mildei , but no other species of Pepsis , were seen in the area ( Palmer 2015b).

CA: San Diego County, near Dulzura, Barrett Junction; 18 August 2015, 1850 (PDT); D. Palmer. Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri , adult male. The wasp dragged the paralyzed A. steindachneri across a dirt road, grasping the base of its 2 nd right leg with her mandibles ( Palmer 2015a).

CA: San Diego County, El Cajon; 8 May 2009; BLEEP7. Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri , adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed spider backwards, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its left foreleg or pedipalp with her mandibles (BLEEP7 2009).

CA: San Diego County, Escondido; 22 July 2017, 1909 (PDT); K. S. Barnard. Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri . The wasp examined the paralyzed tarantula with her antennae as it laid ventral side upward on the ground. She then pulled it backwards on the ground, ventral side upward, grasping the base of its left hind leg with her mandibles ( Barnard 2017).

CA: San Diego County, San Carlos; Mission Trails Regional Park; 12 August 2017, 1856 (PDT); D. Jehl (Fishdan). Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri , adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed tarantula backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping its left pedipalp with her mandibles ( Jehl 2017).

CA: San Diego County, San Diego; 4 November 2007; Cindy M. Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri , adult male. The wasp grasped the paralyzed tarantula underneath its chelicera or base of right foreleg with her mandibles and pulled it backwards on the ground down a slope (Cindy 2009).

CA: San Diego County, San Dieguito River Park; 2003; R. Waayers. Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri , adult or subadult female. The wasp examined the paralyzed tarantula with her antennae as it laid ventral side upward at the mouth of an open burrow ( Waayers 2003; R. Waayers, Palomar, Miramar, and Southwestern Colleges, San Diego, CA, 2017 pers. comm.).

CA: San Diego County, Santee; 7 August 2004; Santee. Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri , adult female. The wasp had difficulty in transporting the much heavier, paralyzed tarantula, grasping the base of its left foreleg with her mandibles ( Santee 2005).

CA: San Luis Obispo County, Paso Robles ; 12 September 2018; B. Garrett (beverly33). Host: Aphonopelma cf iodius, adult or subadult female. The wasp stood near the paralyzed tarantula as it laid on the ground, dorsal side upward ( Garrett 2018) .

CA: Ventura County, Simi Valley; 19 August 2017; M. Hakins (Mad_Doggy). Host: Aphonopelma cf steindachneri , juvenile female. The wasp grasped the paralyzed tarantula by the base of its left hind leg with her mandibles and pulled it backwards on the ground across a dirt road ( Hakins 2017).

COSTA RICA: Puntarenas Province, Monteverde, Fonda Vela Hotel grounds; 2 February 2014; T. Knight. Host: Megaphobema mesomelas , adult female. The wasp examined the paralyzed tarantula with her antennae and mouthparts as it laid dorsal side upward on the ground ( Knight 2014) .

MEXICO: Mexico State, Mexico City, Álvaro Obregón Municipality, near Rio Magdelena ; 15 September 2019; Argelia Luna Alegría (argelialuna). Host: Hemirrhagus cf chilango Pérez-Miles and Locht, adult or subadult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed tarantula through low vegetation on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its left rear leg with her mandibles ( Alegría 2019) .

MEXICO: Quintana Roo State, Cozumel Island; 27 February 2019; A. Rios (itonny08). Host: Tliltocatl vagans , adult female (det. J. Mendoza). The wasp examined the immobilized spider with her antennae and mouthparts as it laid on the ground, ventral side upward ( Rios 2019; J. Mendoza, Instituto de Biologia, UNAM , Mexico City, Mexico, 2019 pers. comm.).