Pepsis decorata Perty

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 : 9-10

Pepsis decorata Perty

BRAZIL: State of Bahia, near Feira de Santana; 20 November 2016; A. Rapini (@rapinibot). Host: Lasiodora cf parahybana Mello-Leit „o ( Theraphosidae ) (Brazilian salmon tarantula), immature. The wasp stood behind the paralyzed tarantula examining it with her antennae as it laid on the ground, dorsal side upward ( Rapini 2016).

BRAZIL: State of Bahia, near Ilhéus, Enchanted Lagoon ; 22 September 2019; M. Tamandaré (mctamandare). Host:? Lasiodora sp., adult or subadult female. A short video shows the wasp struggling to drag the large paralyzed tarantula backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its right foreleg with her mandibles ( Tamandaré 2019) .

BRAZIL: State of Ceará, General Sampaio Municipality, Pedra Preta ; 1 May 2017; C. E. Freitas de Andrade. Host :? Acanthoscurria sp., adult female. The wasp dragged the paralyzed tarantula backwards, dorsal side upward, on the ground, grasping a chelicera, base of pedipalp, or front leg with her mandibles ( Freitas de Andrade 2017) .

BRAZIL: State of Ceará, Trairi; 21 January 2013; S. Veiga. Host: Acanthoscurria cf natalensis Chamberlin (Natal brown birdeater tarantula) ( Theraphosidae ), adult female. The wasp grasped the base of the paralyzed tarantula’s left foreleg with her mandibles and, maintaining the spider ventral side upward, dragged it backwards on the ground ( Veiga 2013; R. Bertani, Instituto Butantan, S„o Paulo, Brazil, 2017 pers. comm.).

BRAZIL: State of Paraíba, Municipality of Paraíba, Conde; 25 December 2010; F.A. Sonntag. Host:? Lasiodora sp. ( Theraphosidae ), adult female. The wasp grasped the paralyzed tarantula by the base of its 3 rd left leg with her mandibles and pulled it backwards, dorsal side upward, on the ground ( Sonntag 2010).

BRAZIL: State of Pernamubuco , Gravatá; 18 September 2019; T. Santos (thiagosantos112). Host: Lasiodora parahybana , adult female. The wasp struggled to move then pull the large paralyzed tarantula backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its foreleg with her mandibles (Santos 2019; R. Bertani, IBB, S„o Paulo, Brazil, 2018 pers. comm.) .

BRAZIL: State of Pernambuco, Ibimirim, Escola Técnica SERTA; 11 June 2014; D. Nobre. Host:? Lasiodora sp., juvenile. The wasp excavated a chamber in the ground while the paralyzed tarantula laid nearby, ventral side upward, on the ground ( Nobre 2014) .

BRAZIL: State of Pernambuco, Paudalho ; 22 September 2014; H. Lourencini. Host:? Lasiodora sp., female. The wasp examined and then struggled to drag the paralyzed tarantula through cut grass. The spider was missing its 2 nd and 4 th legs on the left side. The wasp paused from dragging the spider to drink hemolymphatic fluid that seeped from a newly detached leg, then searched for a suitable place among the grass to make a chamber for the spider ( Lourencini 2014a, b, c) .

BRAZIL: State of Piauí, Parnaíba; 26 April 2018; W. Ripardo (wesleyripardo). Host:? Lasiodora sp. ( Theraphosidae ), adult or subadult female. One photograph shows the wasp standing over the paralyzed tarantula. She grasped the paralyzed tarantula, dorsal side upward, by its left hindcoxa with her mandibles and briefly pulled it backwards on the ground before releasing it ( Ripardo 2018).

BRAZIL: State of Rio Grande do Norte, Maxaranguape Municipality ; 3 September 2017; J. Amorim. Host:? Acanthoscurria sp., adult or subadult female. The wasp grasped the paralyzed tarantula by the base of its 3 rd right leg with her mandibles and briefly pulled it backwards, dorsal side upward, on the ground before releasing it. She then circled the spider, grasped the base of its 4 th left leg with her mandibles, and briefly pulled it backwards, dorsal side upward, with her mandibles before releasing it again on the ground ( Amorim 2017) .

BRAZIL: State of S„o Paulo, vicinity of S„o José do Rio Preto; 31 May 2017; R. Caetano. Host:? Lasiodora sp., female. The wasp circled the tarantula on the ground near its burrow, then entered and briefly investigated the burrow. She exited the burrow, maneuvered beneath the spider, stung and paralyzed it ( Caetano 2017) .

BRAZIL: State of Sergipe, Canindé de S„o Francisco; 19 February 2018; A. Menegotto (andre_menegotto). Host: Dolichothele cf exilis Mello-Leit„o ( Theraphosidae ), adult or subadult female. The wasp was interrupted in her attempt to paralyze the tarantula by the photographer ( Menegotto 2018; R. Bertani, IBB, S„o Paulo, Brazil, 2018 pers. comm.) .