Sphictostethus xanthopus (Spinola)

Kurczewski, Frank E., West, Rick C., Waichert, Cecilia & Pitts, James P., 2022, Additional new and unusual host records for Western Hemisphere spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), Insecta Mundi 2022 (928), pp. 1-32 : 8

Sphictostethus xanthopus (Spinola)

CHILE: Araucanía Region, Cautín Province, Pucón, Huerguehue National Park; 25 February 2021; G. Andrés. Host: Unidentified species ( Anyphaenidae ), adult or subadult female. The first photograph shows S. striatulus standing over the paralyzed ghost spider as it laid on the ground, ventral side upward, grasping its left forecoxa with her mandibles. The second photograph shows S. xanthopus pulling the spider in the opposite direction of S. striatulus , grasping the trochanter of the third left leg with her mandibles, while S. striatulus grasps the spider’s right forepatella or forefemur with her mandibles. The third photograph shows the two wasps grappling atop the spider while it laid, ventral side upward, on the ground with S. xanthopus attempting to sting and bite S. striatulus with her mandibles. The S. striatulus is grasping the patella of the spider’s second right leg ( Andrés 2021).