BRN 9-2 (uncompressed) - Flipbook - Page 91
Tarantula-Hawk Wasps. I have always been happy calling
those red-winged but otherwise all black big wasps,
Tarantula Hawks. Well. . .
Seepwillow - A Wasp Magnet
In late August and early September 2025 insects were
swarming the Baccharis salicifolia ([Ruiz & Pavon] Persoon)
in Warm Springs Wash, northeast of Hillsboro. The bushes,
generally known by the common name of Seepwillow (also
Seep Willow, Seep-willow, or MuleÕs Fat), were ßowering
and were major attractors for many species of butterßies,
wasps, and bees.
Let us assume, rightly or wrongly, that the wasps shown
below and on the next page are in the tribe Pepsini and even
within the Genus Hemipepsis or Pepsis. That is, they are
correctly called by the common name Tarantula Hawk. As
you may begin to suspect, all of the other genera in Pepsini
are not Tarantula Hawks - although all hunt spiders.
A few of the species found on four Seepwillows during that
period are shown here.
Why all this wafßing on my part? ItÕs the veins, the cells, the
fact that the wings overlie each other, the slightly out-offocus images, and that if they sting you it really really hurts.
Family Pompilidae (Spider Wasps)
Subfamily Pepsinae, Tribe Pepsini
The number and shape of wing cells is used to identify a
tarantula wasp to genus (see top left image on the following
page). My failing eyes are simply not up to the task.
It is often much easier to act like you know something than it
is to actually know something. Such is the case with
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