Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Superfamily Pompiloidea | Phylum Arthropoda Order Hymenoptera Family Pompilidae | |
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Hemipepsis tamisieri is a species of Afrotropical pepsid spider wasp, one of the so-called tarantula hawks because its preferred prey are tarantulas of the family Theraphosidae.
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Distribution
This wasp has been recorded from Uganda, Ethiopia, Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria and Sierra Leone, but is probably widespread in Africa south of the Sahara.
Biology
The adults feed on the nectar of various flowers, many of which are specialised to be pollinated by this species and its cogeners. The females hunt on the ground for spiders of the family Theraphosidae and rain spiders of the genus Palystes which are paralysed with the female's sting to provide a food for the wasp's larva.
References
Hemipepsis tamisieri Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA