Pepsis montezuma Smith

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 : 19

Pepsis montezuma Smith

PERU: Cusco Region, Calca Province, Arin; 4 April 2018; I. Rodrigues. Host:? Hapalotremus sp. ( Theraphosidae ), adult female. The wasp examined the paralyzed tarantula, then pulled it backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping its left forecoxa with her mandibles ( Rodrigues 2018).

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, Inca Trail ; 26 May 2007; A. R. Pineda. Host:? Hapalotremus sp., adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed tarantula backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its right pedipalp with her mandibles ( Pineda 2007) .

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, Macchu Picchu ; posted 23 February 2006, J. and C. Barnes. Host:? Hapalotremus sp., adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed tarantula backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping its left pedipalp with her mandibles ( Barnes and Barnes 2006) .

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, Macchu Picchu; 3 June 2012, M. Fliegel. Host: Hapalotremus cf sp., adult male. The wasp stood beside a paralyzed tarantula grasped in the mouth of a Stenocercus crassicaudatus (Tschudi) (Spiny whorltail iguana). Reportedly, the lizard ran out from ground cover and seized the paralyzed tarantula from the wasp’s grasp ( Fliegel 2012; J. C. Chaparro, Cusco, Peru, 2018 pers. comm).

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, Macchu Picchu ; posted 26 June 2013; G. Bauer. Host:? Linothele sp., adult female. The wasp searched a vertical rock wall until it located and attacked the spider, whereupon they both fell to the ground with the wasp in pursuit until she caught and immobilized it ( Bauer 2013) .

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, Macchu Picchu ; 14 July 2015; M. Russell. Host:? Hapalotremus sp., adult or subadult 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 ( Russell 2015) .

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, Macchu Picchu ; 25 November 2015; posted by L. Higgins (colilaoptera), filmed by @mochan412. Host:? Linothele sp., adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed spider backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its left foreleg with her mandibles ( Higgins 2015) .

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, Macchu Picchu ; 11 August 2013; E. Starling. Host:? Linothele sp., adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed spider backwards across a rock, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its left foreleg with her mandibles ( Starling 2013) .

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, Machu Picchu , Inca Trail ; 22 May 2007; A. Clarke. Host:? Linothele sp., adult or subadult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed spider backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its left foreleg with her mandibles ( Clarke 2007) .

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Machupicchu District, Machu Picchu, Inca Trail; 24 August 2017; I. Trichopoulos. Host:? Linothele sp., adult or subadult female. The wasp pulled the paralyzed spider backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its foreleg with her mandibles while 2 meters away another conspecific stood beside a paralyzed female Hapalotremus cf sp., dorsal side upward, on the ground ( Trichopoulos 2017).

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Sacred (Urubamba) Valley; Sacred Valley Salt Co.; no date. Host:? Hapalotremus sp., adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed tarantula backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its right foreleg with her mandibles (Sacred Valley Salt Co. no date).

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Sacred (Urubamba) Valley , Ollantaytambo; K. Seminario; 10 March 2012. Host:? Hapalotremus sp., adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed tarantula backwards over rocks on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its right foreleg with her mandibles ( Seminario 2012) .

PERU: Cusco Region, Urubamba Province, Sacred (Urubamba) Valley; 4 May 2018; V. V. Figueroa (verena696). Host: Hapalotremus cf major (Chamberlin) ( Theraphosidae ), adult or subadult female. The wasp pulled the paralyzed tarantula up a vertical wall, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of a left foreleg with her mandibles ( Figueroa 2018).