Pompilus (wasp)

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Pompilus
Pompilus cinereus with prey
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Pompilidae
Subfamily: Pompilinae
Genus: Pompilus
Fabricius, 1798
Type species
Pompilus pulcher
Fabricius, 1798[1]

Pompilus is a genus of spider wasps in the family Pompilidae, the members of which prey on spiders. There are seven species recognised in Pompilus sensu stricto.[2] It is the type genus of the family Pompilidae and the subfamily Pompilinae.

Biology[edit]

Pompilus wasps are fossorial, stocking short burrows in sand with single spiders of various families upon which they lay a single egg.[2]

Distribution[edit]

The members of Pompilus are widely distributed throughout the Old World, in both temperate and tropical regions, but with the greatest diversity in Africa.[2]

The species are:

References[edit]

  1. ^ M.C.Day (1979). "Nomenclatural studies on the British Pompilidae (Hymenoptera)". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History): Entomology. 38 (1): 1–26.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Day M.C (1981). "A revision of Pompilus (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera : Pompilidae), with further nomenclatural and biological considerations". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History): Entomology. 42 (1): 1–42.
  3. ^ a b "Pompilus Fabricius, 1798". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2 March 2021.