Allochares Azureus: An Unusual Wasp Exploits Unusual Prey (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae; Arachnida: Filistatidae)

The First Cretaceous Spider Wasp (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae)

“…Many pompilids use wolf spiders (Lycosidae), Theridiidae, and jumping spiders (Salticidae), which originated after the beginning of the Palaeogene according to fossil data (Penney 2004), and diverged from their sister families before 50 Ma (Bond et al 2014). Moreover, some other pompilids use older spider taxa such as velvet spiders (Eresidae) (Raemakers and Helsdingen 1999) and crevice weaver spiders (Filistatidae) (Deyrup et al 1988). Thus, the origin and diversification of at least the majority of Pompilidae must have occurred long after the origin of some of their host-spider lineages.…”

The Crevice Weaver Spider Genus Kukulcania (Araneae: Filistatidae)

“…Curtis and Carrell (1999) observed extended maternal care, cooperative prey capture and communal feeding by spiderlings of this species; Barrantes and Ramirez (2013) add that sometimes young will feed on prey items captured by their mother. Deyrup et al (1988) found that K. hibernalis is preyed upon by the wasp Allochares azureus (Pompilidae), which appears to be a Kukulcania specialist. The web structure and spinning behavior have been briefly discussed by Lopardo and Ramirez (2007).…”