Tarantula Hawk (female)

Description:

This is a female Tarantula Hawk and you can tell by her curled antennae. Tarantula Hawks are nectarivores (an animal which eats the sugar-rich nectar produced by flowering plants). This particular wasp was quickly moving from blossom to blossom. Although the photo does not show it well, it was an amazing blue-black color.

Habitat:

Flowering plant in Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve, Antioch, CA.

Notes:

Identification Large blue-black wasps, most with orange wings. Some species have orange antennae. Females have curled antennae, males straight. Among the largest and most easily recognized genera of spider wasps, only Hemipepsis is easily confused, but orange-winged individuals of Entypus are superficially similar. This genus can be recognized by the characters given below: Large size 40 mm+. With blue, blue-green, or blue-violet iridescence. Only rarely does Hemipepsis have iridescence and most in that genus lack it completely, or if it is present it is very vague. Only rarely does Entypus reach the size listed above. Wing ventaion is very important for identification of Pepsis especially distinction between Pepsis and Hemipepsis. Those characters are as follows: Marginal cell apically separated from the costal margin, making that cell appear very rounded First recurrent vein meeting the second submarginal cell at its basal third, thus making the first discoidal cell rather short and rounded. In Hemipepsis the first recurrent vein meets the second submarginal cell at its apical one-third or is occasionally interstitial with the second transervse cubital vein, thus making the first discoidal cell rather long and pointed Subcircular irregularity at the base of the first discoidal cell not as developed as in Hemipepsis Pulvillar pad and comb in Pepsis is rather weak, the pulvillar pad about half as wide as the apical tarsal segment. The pulvillar comb consists of eight to ten weak setulae. In Hemipepsis this character is well developed with a large pulvillar pad that is approximately three-quarters the width of the apical tarsal segment and the puvillar comb that consists of 14-40 strong setulae. Hemipepsis are often identifiable from photographs to species, but this is not the case with Pepsis. Although it is often possible to narrow down the choices to groups of similar species, it is often impossible to assign a species name with that degree of certainty. An extensive knowledge of local fauna helps, as well as extensive work with museum specimens. Despite the large size of members of this genus many photographs must remain identified, as some of the species are very similar. bugguide.net