Epipompilus

{{hatnote|Not to be confused with Epipompilinae, a subfamily of Pompilidae (spider wasp family)}} {{use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Short description|Genus of wasps}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = | image_caption = | taxon = Epipompilus | authority = Kohl, 1884 | type_species = ''Epipompilus maximiliani'' | type_species_authority = Kohl, 1884<ref>{{cite journal | author = V.S.L. Pate | year = 1946 | title = The Generic Names of the Spider Wasps (Psammocharidae olim Pompilidae) and Their Type Species (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) | journal = Transactions of the American Entomological Society |volume = 72 | issue = 3 | pages = 65–137| jstor = 25077544 }}</ref> }}

'''''Epipompilus''''' is a genus of spider wasps in the subfamily Pepsinae, part of the widespread family Pompilidae. Representatives of ''Epipompilus'' can be found in Australasia and North and South America.<ref name = "Evans">{{cite journal |author=Howard E. Evans |year=1972 |title=Revision of the Australian and New Guinean species of ''Epipompilus'' (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) |journal=Pacific Insects |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=101–131 |url=http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pi/pdf/14%281%29-101.pdf |author-link=Howard Ensign Evans }}</ref> This distribution may indicate that ''Epipompilus'' evolved in Gondwana and is similar to other Gondwanan taxa such as the southern beech ''Nothofagus'' and ''Auracaria''.

''Epipompilus'' is found in North and South America, ranging from Argentina to extreme southern United States,<ref name="Breviora">{{cite journal |author=Howard E. Evans |year=1967 |title=Studies on the Neotropical Pompilidae (Hymenoptera). III. Additional notes on ''Epompilus'' Kohl |journal=Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology Brevoria |volume=273 |pages=1–15 |url=https://archive.org/stream/breviora265295harv#page/n145/mode/2up|author-link=Howard Ensign Evans }}</ref> with around a dozen known species. One species, ''E. insularis'' is endemic to New Zealand. In Australia, the genus reaches its greatest diversity, with a greater number of species and a more varied spectrum of morphological features than among the American species. The ''Epipompilus'' species in New Guinea are notably brilliantly coloured and apparently highly evolved species. The genus is restricted to these areas but several Tertiary fossils from the northern hemisphere should probably be placed in ''Epipompilus''.<ref name = "Evans"/>

==Ecology and behaviour== These wasps are scarce in collections, probably due to their small size and the fact that they rarely visit flowers. A single male ''E. turneri'' which was collected on ''Leptospermum'' in New South Wales is one of the few flower records. In Australia observation and collection have often been associated with the trunks of living ''Eucalyptus'' trees. The morphology of many of the species suggests that they are adapted for crawling under bark and for entering crevices to search for spiders. Prey recorded includes spiders from the family Sparassidae. These wasps probably do not build nests but hunt spiders underneath bark and lay eggs on them as they find them. Taken into consideration with the many primitive structural features of members of this genus, it is suggestive that the hunting technique of ''Epipompilus'' represents an ancestral type of behaviour for spider wasps.<ref name = "Evans"/>

One of three new species identified in 2020,<ref name=yuan2020/> based on a single specimen seen in 2018, ''E. namadji'', is named after the Namadgi National Park in the Australian Capital Territory, in which it was found. Efforts are ongoing by teams from the Australian National Insect Collection at the CSIRO to find more of the wasps, after nearly 80 per cent of the national park was lost in the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season.<ref>{{cite web | last=Jones | first=Ann | title=The quest to catalogue Australia's insect biodiversity using AI technology|website=ABC News| publisher= Australian Broadcasting Corporation|series= Catalyst | date=3 August 2021 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-08-03/namadgi-spider-wasp-insect-biodiversity-artificial-intelligence/100201232 | access-date=3 August 2021}}</ref>

==Species== The following species have been assigned to ''Epipompilus'':<ref>{{cite journal |author=Howard E. Evans |year=1962 |title=The genus ''Epipompilus'' in Australia |journal=Pacific Insects |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=773–782 |url=http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pi/pdf/4%284%29-773.pdf |author-link=Howard Ensign Evans }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Rogério Silvestre, Tiago Henrique Auko & Vander Carbonari |year=2010 |title=Insecta, Hymenoptera, Vespoidea, Pompilidae, ''Epipompilus aztecus'' (Cresson, 1869): first record in South America |journal=Check List |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=483–484 |doi=10.15560/6.4.483 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Breviora"/><ref name=yuan2020>{{cite journal | last1=Yuan | first1=David | last2=Rodriguez | first2=Juanita | title=Three new species of Epipompilus Kohl (Hymenoptera, Pompilidae, Pepsinae) from Australia| journal=Zootaxa | publisher=Magnolia Press | volume=4743 | issue=4 | date=27 February 2020 | issn=1175-5334 | doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4743.4.7 | pages=575–584| pmid=32230315 | s2cid=212784458 }}</ref>

{{div col|colwidth=24em}} *''Epipompilus albofasciatus'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus aztecus'' Cresson, 1869 *''Epipompilus caeruleus'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus cardaleae'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus compactus'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus delicatus'' Turner, 1910 *''Epipompilus depressus'' Evans, 1962 *''Epipompilus excelsus'' Bradley, 1944 *''Epipompilus exleyae'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus formosus'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus gilesi'' Turner, 1910 *''Epipompilus hackeri'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus inca'' Evans, 1968 *''Epipompilus incompletus'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus insularis'' Kohl, 1884 *''Epipompilus jocosus'' Evans, 1968 *''Epipompilus matthewsi'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus mirabundus'' Yuan & Rodriguez, 2020 *''Epipompilus montivagus'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus multifasciatus'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus namadji'' Yuan & Rodriguez, 2020 *''Epipompilus neboissi'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus nigribasis'' Banks, 1925 *''Epipompilus pallidus'' Evans, 1962 *''Epipompilus papuensis'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus pauper'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus pictipennis'' Evans, 1962 *''Epipompilus pulcherrimus'' Evans, 1955 *''Epipompilus rieki'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus submetallicus'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus taree'' Yuan & Rodriguez, 2020 *''Epipompilus tasmanicus'' Evans, 1972 *''Epipompilus tucumanus'' Evans, 1968 *''Epipompilus turneri'' Evans, 1962 *''Epipompilus variegatus'' Evans, 1972 {{div col end}}

==References== {{Reflist|32em}}

Category:Hymenoptera genera Category:Pepsinae