2010 NORTHEASTERN NATURALIST 17(1):115–124
Prey and Nesting Behavior of Some North American
Spider Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae)
Frank E. Kurczewski*
Abstract - This study presents prey records and nesting information for 13 species of
spider wasps: Hemipepsis ustulata, Priocnessus nebulosus, and Priocnemis cornica
(Tribe Pepsini); Auplopus architectus, A. caerulescens (Tribe Auplopodini); and
Tachypompilus ferrugineus, T. unicolor, Anoplius (Pompilinus) marginatus complex,
A. (P.) splendens, A. (Anoplius) nigerrimus, A. (A.) virginiensis, Arachnospila arctus,
and A. scelestus (Tribe Pompilini). Cumulative prey records for Priocnessus nebulosus,
Tachypompilus ferrugineus, T. unicolor, and Arachnospila scelestus indicate
limited prey selection. Cursorial hunting spiders were more susceptible to predation
by the spider wasps than web-spinning spiders. Wasp nesting sites varied among
natural and man-made microhabitats.
Introduction
The family Pompilidae has approximately 300 species in North America
north of Mexico (Krombein 1979). Although more than 2000 prey records
have been published for this group, there is much to learn about prey selection
of the individual species (Kurczewski et al. 1987). A summary of prey
spiders for the North American species of Pompilidae is presented in the
Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico (Krombein 1979).
Wasbauer (1982) added prey records for some spider wasps from the western
United States. Kurczewski et al. (1987) supplemented prey records and nesting
behavior for some eastern pompilids.
Evans and Yoshimoto (1962) reported on the ecology and nesting behavior
of some Pompilidae from the northeastern United States. More
recent additions to the ecology and nesting behavior of this fauna include
studies on Calicurgus hyalinatus (Fabricius) (Kurczewski and Spofford
1985), Auplopus caerulescens (Dahlbom) (Kurczewski 1989a), Ageniella
fulgifrons (Cresson) (Kurczewski and Kurczewski 1987), Episyron quinquenotatus
(Say) (Kurczewski 2001), Tachypompilus ferrugineus (Say)
(Kurczewski 1989b), Anoplius relativus (Fox) (McQueen 1978), Anoplius
cylindricus (Cresson) (Gwynne 1979), Anoplius tenebrosus (Cresson) (Alm
and Kurczewski 1984), Anoplius depressipes Banks (Roble 1985), and
Aporinellus wheeleri Bequaert and A. taeniolatus (Dalla Torre) (Kurczewski
et al. 1988).
Despite these reports, there is still much to learn about the prey and
nesting behavior of the North American species of Pompilidae. The nesting
behavior of many species remains unstudied. Certain species are highly secretive
in their habits and difficult to study because of their cryptic nesting
*PO Box 15251, Syracuse, NY 13215; Fkurczewski@twcny.rr.com.
116 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 17, No. 1
situations. Some species, such as Anoplius bengtssoni (Regan), are evidently
crepuscular or nocturnal in their nesting behavior (Kurczewski 1999), which
further adds to the difficulties of their study.
This study adds previously unknown spider prey and presents typical and
atypical nesting behavior for 13 pompilid species. The species of Pompilidae
are presented according to their arrangement in the Catalog of Hymenoptera
in America North of Mexico (Krombein 1979). The spider names follow
the current classification of Platnick (2009). Wet weights or body lengths
of the wasps and spiders are given along with the species identifications.
Localities, dates of collection, and observations on nesting behavior are also
recorded. The wasps are placed in the Cornell University insect collection.
The spiders have been deposited in the State University of New York College
of Environmental Science and Forestry invertebrate collection.
SUBFAMILY PEPSINAE
Tribe Pepsini
Hemipepsis ustulata Dahlbom
CA: Along 17-Mile Drive near Pescadero Point, Pebble Beach, Monterey
County; 19 August 2007; 1525–1630 (PDT); 18 °C (air temperature). This
female, 24 mm long, was excavating her burrow in sandy clay-loam atop an
ocean-side cliff, 140 cm from where she deposited her spider, an immature
Aphonopelma sp. (Theraphosidae), 31 mm long. She removed soil from her
burrow by walking backward and using the forelegs alternately. She held
her bright orange wings on the dorsum except for occasionally flicking them
when on the surface. She backed from her burrow with soil 14 times in 45
minutes, excluding the duration she was absent from the nest area. The soil
she removed from the burrow formed a tumulus, 75 mm wide and 125 mm
long, in front of the opening. This wasp left her burrow and flew to examine
her spider 3 times at intervals of 11–18 minutes. She returned to her burrow
each time walking to recommence excavation. I collected the wasp and prey
before she finished the burrow.
Priocnessus nebulosus (Dahlbom)
PA: Wintergreen Gorge Cemetery, 1.6 km SE of Erie, Erie County; 28 July
1987. This wasp (weight = 63 mg) was observed carrying a female Agelenopsis
utahana (Chamberlin & Ivie) (Agelenidae) (weight = 94 mg) forward on
the ground. The female straddled the spider ventral side upward, grasping it
by the base of a chelicera (?). The wasp released her prey on a gravelly bank in
the shade, ventral side upward, and flew back and forth in front of a Marmota
monax (L.) (Woodchuck) hole, at which time the pair was collected.
Priocnemis cornica (Say)
NY: Auburn, Cayuga County; 2 September 1991. This female (weight
= 5 mg) was walking backward, grasping a male Cheiracanthium inclusum
(Hentz) (Miturgidae) (weight = 9 mg) by a hindcoxa. The wasp held the
spider in an almost perpendicular position during transport.
2010 F.E. Kurczewski 117
Tribe Auplopodini
Auplopus architectus (Say)
NY: Onondaga Hill, 3.2 km SW of Syracuse, Onondaga County; 16
August 1996; 1615 (EDT); 25 °C (air temperature). This wasp was transporting
a female Phidippus sp. (Salticidae) across a concrete step on an
intermittently rainy day. Each leg of the spider had been amputated at the
coxa-trochanter joint. With her mandibles, the female held the spider ventral
side upward by its spinnerets. Maintaining the spider in this position, the
wasp walked up the side of a house and entered a crack in a shingle.
Another female or the same one (weight = 24 mg) was collected the next
day at the same location with a female Phidippus whitmani Peckham &
Peckham (weight = 59 mg). The wasp was carrying the spider, which had all
its legs amputated at the coxa-trochanter joints, in the same manner.
Auplopus caerulescens (Dahlbom)
NY: Auburn, Cayuga County; 12 August 1991. This female (weight
= 6.5 mg) was seen carrying a female Habronattus decorus (Blackwall)
(Salticidae) (weight = 11.5 mg), which had all its legs amputated at the coxatrochanter
joints, up the outside wall of a basement foundation. Maintaining
the prey underneath in a ventral side upward position and grasping it by
the spinnerets with the mandibles, the wasp proceeded toward a hole in the
mortar between two concrete blocks, at which time the pair was collected.
NY: Onondaga Hill, 3.2 km SW of Syracuse, Onondaga County; 8–27
July 2007. Two females were observed nesting between a window screen and
windowpane of a house. They periodically entered an opening with small
immature Pellenes and Sitticus spp. (Salticidae). The wasps occupied this
site for approximately three weeks.
SUBFAMILY POMPILINAE
Tribe Pompilini
Tachypompilus ferrugineus (Say)
NY: Clark Reservation State Park, 2.1 km W of Jamesville, Onondaga
County; 19 August 1992; 1935 (EDT); 19 °C (air temperature). This wasp
(weight = 186 mg) was nesting beneath a rusted truck tailgate lying atop
soft pulverized shale mixed with deciduous twigs, pine needles, and other
dried vegetation. A partly paralyzed female Rabidosa rabida (Walckenaer)
(Lycosidae) (weight = 428 mg), with legs tucked in but moving, was found
dorsal side upward in a concave depression in the shale beneath the tailgate.
The depression was about 30 mm deep and 45 mm in diameter at the top.
The wasp continued to walk around the area with raised wings as I removed
the spider from the concavity. If present, the wasp’s egg was dislodged from
the spider’s abdomen during the prey’s removal from the nest.
Tachypompilus unicolor (Banks)
CA: Montana de Oro State Park along Pecho Valley Road, 4.0 km S of
Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County; 9, 11 August 2009; 1510–1525, 1423–
118 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 17, No. 1
1445 (PDT); 20 °C (air temperature). Two (possibly three) females, 14–15
mm long, were seen searching for prey in the chaparral-covered foothills in
an area of sandy clay-loam, ca. 10 m2. The wasps searched on the ground
primarily under dried vegetation, in crevices, and in holes up to 3 cm in diameter.
Females remained inside some holes for 0.5–1.5 minutes. The wasps
ran rapidly in an almost straight line, but occasionally zigzagged while
hunting. Their antenna tips constantly tapped the substrate. They held their
wings upward at a 45° or greater angle and intermittently flicked them once
or twice per second. The females occasionally made low, rapid flights up to
1 m in length to new hunting areas. Their hunting activity ceased abruptly at
the onset of coastal marine fog and disappearance of full sunlit conditions.
Anoplius (Pompilinus) marginatus (Say) complex
NY: Auburn, Cayuga County; 13 September 1991. This wasp (weight =
27 mg) was captured dragging a female Schizocosa crassipes (Walckenaer)
(Lycosidae) (weight = 52 mg) backward across the edge of a lawn. The female
grasped the spider by the base of a hindleg with the mandibles.
MI: 1.5 km N of Grayling, Crawford County; 9 August 1992. A female
(weight = 16 mg), with very frayed wings, was noted transporting a
female Thanatus formicinus (Clerck) (Philodromidae) (weight = 53 mg) on
sand, grasping the spider as described above. Another wasp (weight = 17 mg)
at that locality on the same day was observed dragging an immature Xysticus
sp. (Thomisidae) (weight = 23 mg) across sand in the same manner.
Anoplius (Pompilinus) splendens (Dreisbach)
MI: Allegan State Game Area, Fennville, Allegan County; 13 June 1993.
This wasp (weight = 22 mg) was collected dragging an immature Thanatus sp.
(weight = 23 mg) rapidly backward across sand. The female grasped the spider
with the mandibles as described for the Anoplius marginatus complex.
MI: 1.5 km N of Grayling, Crawford County; 9 August 1992. This female
(weight = 23 mg) was captured dragging an immature Schizocosa sp. (weight
= 31 mg) backward on sand. The 2nd right leg of the prey was missing beyond
the coxa-trochanter joint. The female grasped the spider with the mandibles
as described above.
Anoplius (Anoplius) nigerrimus (Scopoli)
NY: Onondaga Hill, 3.2 km SW of Syracuse, Onondaga County; 24–25
September 2009. Three females were seen hunting during two afternoons
(1344–1651, EDT; air temperatures = 18–21 ºC; ground surface temperatures
= 33–41 ºC). The wasps searched for spiders around and under stones,
in cavities in the soil, beneath decumbent vegetation, and in grasses at the
edge of a lawn. One female searched unsuccessfully in an almost straight
line for 13 m during 35 minutes.
One wasp with moderately frayed fore- and hindwings, 11 mm long,
entered a patch of decumbent vegetation on bare soil. Several seconds
later, a small lycosid ran from the vegetation followed rapidly by the wasp.
The female caught the spider after 15 cm, bent her abdomen underneath,
and inserted her sting into its ventral cephalothorax for 1–2 seconds. She
2010 F.E. Kurczewski 119
dismounted and, using her mandibles, manipulated the prey’s mouthparts (?)
and forelegs for 3–4 seconds. She then grasped the spider by the base of a 3rd
leg with her mandibles and, holding it above ground, walked rapidly backward
across the bare soil. The female released the prey dorsal side upward
beside a small hole, entered, reappeared in the opening, and, grasping the
spider by its spinnerets with the mandibles, pulled it backward into the burrow.
The wasp reappeared in the entrance 4 minutes later and began pulling
soil and debris into the burrow with her mandibles and forelegs. I collected
the female before she finished filling the burrow.
The entrance and burrow were only 5 mm wide. The burrow sloped
downward almost vertically, ending in a rough circular cell, 6.5 x 12 mm,
34 mm below the surface. A female Trochosa ruricola (DeGeer), 11 mm
long, was placed cephalothorax outward and dorsal side upward in the cell.
The wasp’s egg, ca. 2.5 mm long, was affixed to the left side of the spider’s
abdomen almost midway from the base.
A female with severely frayed fore- and hindwings, 11 mm long, was
observed beginning a burrow at 1259, EDT. She used her mandibles to
loosen the loamy soil and her mid- and hindlegs to push the loosened soil
to the surface. When inspected, this wasp’s left mid- and hindtibiae were
caked with dried mud. Every several minutes, the female exited backward
and distributed the loose soil around the opening, resulting eventually in
a shallow tumulus 55 mm wide and 75 mm long. The wasp removed soil
through the entrance 13 times during the 37 minutes of burrow excavation.
At 1336, after removing soil from the burrow, she turned in front of the
entrance and walked slowly away in a northeasterly direction. Staying entirely
on the ground and holding her wings on the dorsum, she disappeared
into dense vegetation. At 1351, the female reappeared walking across the
bare ground toward her entrance. She examined the opening and, walking
slowly, retraced her path into the dense vegetation. At 1422, she flew back
to her entrance, examined it, and walked away much more rapidly than before,
perhaps because the ground surface temperature had increased from
33 to 38 ºC. At 1448 (air temperature = 18 ºC, ground surface temperature
= 38 ºC), more than an hour after finishing her excavation, the wasp returned
walking rapidly backward holding a paralyzed wolf spider with her
mandibles above ground by the base of a 3rd or 4th leg. Her return with prey
was from the opposite direction (southwest) in which she left, implying
that she had dug her burrow before hunting.
The burrow, 5.5 mm wide, sloped almost vertically, and the cell, 6.5 x 13
mm, was placed at a right angle at the bottom. The distance from the entrance to
the cell was 29 mm. The spider, a female Trochosa ruricola, 10 mm long, was
positioned in the cell as above and the egg, 2.5 mm long, was affixed similarly.
The spider recovered from the effect of the wasp’s venom within 24 hours and
was able to move its legs fully, possibly because the wasp was very old.
Anoplius (Anoplius) virginiensis (Cresson)
NY: Onondaga Hill, 3.2 km SW of Syracuse, Onondaga County; 31 August–
17 September 2009. Females were seen hunting in mid-late afternoon
120 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 17, No. 1
(1410–1655, EDT; air temperatures = 19.5–25.0 ºC; ground surface temperatures
= 31–42 ºC). They searched for prey in subterranean burrows
and cavities, around stones, beneath decumbent vegetation, and under the
bark of trees at ground level. Most females hunted apparently randomly but
rather thoroughly through 1–2 m2 areas for 5–10 minutes before searching
elsewhere. Hunting wasps walked or ran forward tapping their antennae on
the surface, occasionally flicked their wings, and made long (>5 m) winding
flights to new areas.
One female, 11 mm long, entered dense vegetation at ground level. Less
than 1 minute later, a small wolf spider hurriedly exited the vegetation
and ran across the stony ground with the wasp flying in rapid pursuit. The
pompilid twice landed just behind the spider, but failed to capture it. Upon
landing a 3rd time, apparently atop the wolf spider, the wasp rapidly inserted
her sting into the underside of the spider’s cephalothorax stopping its movement.
From the time the spider exited the vegetation until it was subdued
by the wasp, only 5–6 seconds elapsed. The site of the capture was 0.9 m
from the vegetation. The wasp repositioned the spider’s legs with her mandibles,
turned it over, and applied her mouthparts to the spider’s ventral
cephalothorax for 7 seconds. She then grasped the spider by the base of a
hindleg with her mandibles and began dragging it backward toward a decaying
pine stump 1.6 m away. During transport, the wasp released the spider
three times, walked straight to the stump, and then returned to the prey walking
in a straight line. She grasped the spider as before, dragged it farther,
released it ventral side upward at the base of the stump, and entered a crevice
between two large bare roots. The wasp exited headfirst, grasped the spider
by its spinnerets with the mandibles, and pulled it into the opening. After
waiting a few minutes, I excavated the area of entry. The paralyzed spider
was located, positioned on its side with its cephalothorax outward, 54 mm
from the mouth of the crevice in a rough cell, 7 mm wide and 12 mm long.
The female Trochosa ruricola, 10.5 mm long, was completely motionless.
It had the wasp’s egg attached to the upper left side of its abdomen, about
two-fifths of the way from the base. Excavating deeper, I found two or three
old A. virginiensis cells from prior generations containing dried spider body
fragments and coarse sawdust partitions.
Another female, 13.5 mm long, was observed dragging a funnel-webweaving
spider backward, grasping it in the same manner as described
above. She, too, released her prey three or four times during transport,
walked straight to another decaying pine stump, then returned to the spider
on the ground walking in a straight line. This wasp pulled the spider into an
opening in the base of the pine stump, after releasing it on the ground in a
dorsal side upward position, entering the opening for a minute, and exiting.
After a few minutes, the wasp was seen pulling pieces of moist, decaying
wood from the sides of the opening with her mandibles and placing them
farther down the cavity, at which time I excavated the nest. A female Agelenopsis
pen[n]sylvanica (C.L. Koch) (Agelenidae), 14 mm long, was located
on its side with its cephalothorax outward in a rough cell, about 7 mm wide
and 15 mm long, about 40 mm from the opening. The wasp’s egg was affixed
2010 F.E. Kurczewski 121
to the upper right side of the spider’s abdomen, about one-third of the way
from the base.
Two other wasps, 8 and 9 mm long, were collected dragging backward on
the ground incompletely paralyzed immature Agelenopsis pen[n]sylvanica,
9.5 and 10 mm long. These or other females were twice seen walking across
and entering funnel webs in low vegetation without getting entangled. The
spiders must have escaped through the opening of the funnel web as both
searches proved fruitless.
Arachnospila arctus (Cresson)
NY: Auburn, Cayuga County; 7 September 1988. This wasp (weight = 28
mg) was collected slowly dragging a male Arctosa rubicunda (Keyserling)
(Lycosidae) (weight, 81 mg) backward at the edge of a backyard patio. The
female grasped the spider by the base of a hindleg with the mandibles.
NY: Onondaga Hill, 3.2 km SW of Syracuse, Onondaga County; 9–17
October 2008. Two females were observed for more than a week nesting
among pebbles and loamy soil near a house foundation. They hunted at the
bases of shrubbery by running rapidly on the ground, flicking their wings,
and making quick short flights to new areas. Prey transport involved grasping
the spider by the base of a hindleg with the mandibles and dragging it
backward on the ground. The spider was pulled into the nest entrance by its
spinnerets with the wasp’s mandibles. A female nesting beneath an outdoor
ground light entered with prey through a notch in the base of the light! A nest
in an open area comprised an oblique burrow, 75 mm long, that ended in a
round-shaped cell. The paralyzed spider was placed in the cell dorsal side
upward and cephalothorax outward. The wasp’s egg was affixed transversely
to the underside of the spider’s abdomen about midway from the base. Three
spiders collected from wasps or their nests were identified as female Schizocosa
crassipes (weights = 44, 47, 41 mg). One wasp weighed 28 mg.
Arachnospila scelestus (Cresson)
MI: Allegan State Game Area, Fennville, Allegan County; 13 June 1993.
This wasp (weight = 52 mg) was observed slowly dragging a female Schizocosa
avida (Walckenaer) (Lycosidae) (weight = 254 mg) backward on sand.
The 4th right leg of the spider had been amputated at the coxa-trochanter
joint. The wasp grasped the base of the prey’s hindleg with the mandibles
during transport.
Discussion
Hemipepsis ustulata preys upon the trap-door spider Brachythele longitarsis
(Simon) (Nemesiidae) and tarantulas of the genus Aphonopelma (Williams
1956), as observed in this paper.
All known prey records for Priocnessus nebulosus are for the genus
Agelenopsis (Krombein 1979). Virtually nothing is known about the nesting
behavior of this species (Evans and Yoshimoto 1962).
Priocnemis cornica is very unselective of its prey, capturing nine families
of cursorial hunting spiders (Krombein 1979, Kurczewski 1999, Kurczewski
122 Northeastern Naturalist Vol. 17, No. 1
et al. 1987, this study). This species nests in pre-existing holes in the ground
(Evans and Yoshimoto 1962).
Auplopus architectus builds mud nests in sheltered places and provisions
the nests with spiders belonging to the families Gnaphosidae, Clubionidae,
Thomisidae, and Salticidae (Kurczewski 1999). Several prey records comprise
the genus Phidippus (Krombein 1979).
Auplopus caerulescens also builds mud nests in sheltered spots and preys
on cursorial hunting spiders of the families Clubionidae, Anyphaenidae,
Thomisidae, and Salticidae (Krombein 1979, Kurczewski 1989a).
Tachypompilus ferrugineus is rather selective of its prey, capturing spiders
of the families Pisauridae and Lycosidae in the eastern United States and
Ctenidae in the western United States (Krombein 1979, Kurczewski 1989b,
Wasbauer 1982). This species is reported to nest in weathered mortar of an
abandoned building foundation (Rau and Rau 1918), in loose dry soil beneath
buildings (Strandtmann 1953), and in mixed loose soil, powdered mortar, and
debris underneath the base of a cemetery monument (Kurczewski 1989b).
Nothing has been published on the nesting or prey of Tachypompilus
unicolor. However, three snippets on this species were found on internet
photograph- and video-sharing sites (Flickr, YouTube, pics.WW.com;
Anonymous 2009, Bleon 2006, Williamson 2007 ). A video shows a female
T. unicolor carrying a female lycosid backward in a dorsal side upward position,
grasping it with her mandibles by a chelicera or pedipalp and, later,
ventral side upward by a 2nd (?) leg. All prey were large female wolf spiders
(Lycosidae) that appeared to weigh several times the wasp’s weight. The
images indicate that T. unicolor hunts lycosids near suburban homes in the
southwestern United States, although I found females searching for prey in
chaparral-covered foothills.
The Anoplius marginatus complex consists of five species recognizable
in the male sex by their genitalia. The females are indistinguishable from one
another (Evans and Yoshimoto 1962). The species identified as “Anoplius
marginatus” is reported to capture 11 families of spiders and 1 family of harvestman.
This species complex excavates its own nest from the soil surface or
uses pre-existing holes or burrows in the ground (Evans and Yoshimoto 1962).
Anoplius splendens has been collected with 10 families of cursorial
hunting spiders, but some of the records may pertain to the closely related
A. rectangularis (Dreisbach), which is a species in the Anoplius marginatus
complex. Anoplius splendens excavates its nest from the soil surface or uses
pre-existing burrows in the ground.
Anoplius nigerrimus is holarctic, inhabiting Europe and North America
(Evans 1951, Krombein 1979). In Europe, A. nigerrimus nests chiefly in
pre-existing cavities and preys mainly on Lycosidae but also Pisauridae
and Gnaphosidae (Richards and Hamm 1939). The only prey record for this
species from North America is another holarctic species, Trochosa terricola
Thorell (Lycosidae) (Kurczewski et al. 1987). Trochosa ruricola, the prey
reported in this paper, is also holarctic. My observations imply that this spider
wasp may excavate a burrow before capturing the spider.
2010 F.E. Kurczewski 123
Anoplius virginiensis preys on Agelenidae, Amaurobiidae, and Lycosidae
in open woodland (Krombein 1979, Kurczewski and Kurczewski 1973). This
species nests in pre-existing crevices and cavities in decaying stumps and
logs (Evans and Yoshimoto 1962).
Arachnospila arctus preys on cursorial hunting spiders of the families
Lycosidae, Gnaphosidae, Amaurobiidae, and Clubionidae (Krombein 1979).
Little is known about its nesting behavior (Evans and Yoshimoto 1962).
Prey records for Arachnospila scelestus include mainly Lycosidae, and,
rarely, Pisauridae and Salticidae (Krombein 1979). Prey species of Lycosidae
are often considerably larger than the wasp, sometimes weighing 5–10
times as much, and transported with some difficulty (Kurczewski and Kurczewski
1973, Kurczewski et al. 1987). This species excavates nests primarily
in sandy soil, beginning from the surface.
Acknowledgments
David McCorquodale, Cape Breton University, kindly agreed to serve as Guest
Editor and reviewed the manuscript in detail. John Lerg provided the facilities of the
Allegan State Game Area, Michigan. My father, Edmund Kurczewski (deceased),
and Teresa Doherty, State University of New York College of Environmental Science
and Forestry, assisted with some of the field studies. My son, Keith Kurczewski, and
Esther Clark assisted with the observations on Hemipepsis ustulata and Tachypompilus
unicolor. Bonnie Brierton and Roy Norton, both of the State University of New
York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, identified many of the prey
spiders. James Pitts, Utah State University, named the spider prey of Tachypompilus
unicolor from photographs and a video. Partial funding for the field research was
provided by the Michigan Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and New York State
United University Professions.
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