Pepsis thisbe | |
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Pepsis thisbe, Baja California | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hymenoptera |
Family: | Pompilidae |
Subfamily: | Pepsinae |
Genus: | Pepsis |
Species: | P. thisbe
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Binomial name | |
Pepsis thisbe Lucas, 1895
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Pepsis thisbe, also known as Thisbe's tarantula-hawk wasp, [1] is a species of spider wasp in the family Pompilidae. [2] [3] Females are 32-44 mm long with a dark blue body and orange wings. [4]
The females of this species sport curly antennae, while the males' are straight. Males do not have stingers and females have ones about 7mm (¼ inch) in length. Adults are nectavores (feeding on flower material), but females hunt tarantulas as food for larvae, hence their name. They're found throughout the American Southwest in desert areas. [5]