Anoplius (Lophopompilus) carolina (Banks)

Kurczewski, Frank E., West, Rick C. & Waichert, Cecilia, 2024, New host records for Nearctic and Neotropical spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), Insecta Mundi 2024 (34), pp. 1-32 : 23

Anoplius (Lophopompilus) carolina (Banks)

VIRGINIA: Bedford County, Peaks of Otter Lake, deciduous forest; 7 July 2022, 1406 EDT; M. Mulligan. Host: Trachelas tranquillas (Hentz) ( Trachelidae ), adult female, 10 mm long (wasp, 9 mm long). The wasp dragged the immobilized ground sac spider backwards across the ground, holding it perpendicular to the main axis of her body while grasping it by the coxa of its third or fourth left leg with her mandibles. She released the spider, ventral side upward, on a stone trail and, dorsal side upward, on dried ground litter while she reconnoitered ahead. She arrived at a hole in the soil, possibly a rodent burrow, entered, came out, and pulled in the spider backwards grasping its spinnerets with her mandibles ( Mulligan 2022).

Until recently, Anoplius carolina was reportedly host specific only on species of Amaurobiidae ( Evans 1951; Evans and Yoshimoto 1962; Krombein 1979; Kurczewski and Kiernan 2015; Kurczewski et al. 2017). Then, Kurczewski and West (In Rev.) surprisingly recorded Anoplius carolina with an immobilized trapdoor spider, Antrodiaetus unicolor (Hentz) complex ( Antrodiaetidae ). Trachelas tranquillas ( Trachelidae ) is yet another new family, genus, and species for this primarily deciduous forest spider wasp.