Pompilus (wasp)

Pompilus is a genus of spider wasps in the family Pompilidae, the members of which prey on spiders. There are seven species recognised in Pompilus sensu stricto.^[2] It is the type genus of the family Pompilidae and the subfamily Pompilinae.

Pompilus
Pompilus cinereus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Pompilidae
Subfamily:	Pompilinae
Genus:	Pompilus Fabricius, 1798
Type species
Pompilus pulcher Fabricius, 1798[1]

Biology

Pompilus wasps are fossorial, stocking short burrows in sand with single spiders of various families upon which they lay a single egg.^[2]

Distribution

The members of Pompilus are widely distributed throughout the Old World, in both temperate and tropical regions, but with the greatest diversity in Africa.^[2]

The species are:

• Pompilus accolens Cresson, 1869^[3]
• Pompilus bilineatus (Arnold 1937)^[2]
• Pompilus botswana Day, 1972^[2]
• Pompilus cadmius Saussure, 1892^[2]
• Pompilus cinereus (Fabricius, 1775)^[2]
• Pompilus irpex Gerstaecker, 1858^[2]
• Pompilus mirandus (Saussure, 1867)^[2]
• Pompilus niveus Saunders, 1901^[2]
• Pompilus tripunctatus Spinola, 1808^[3]