New garden species

Agenioideus sericeus♀︎

Zygiella x-notata

Last update: 5 February 2021


Uncommon

LOCATION: Krimpen aan den IJssel, garden

OBSERVATION:
2019-VIII-30


UPDATE: 2020/02/18

Waarneming.nl admin Hans Nieuwenhuijsen, expert on Pompilidae, indicates that the wasp is not Auplopus carbonarius like I had determined but:

a female Agenioideus sericeus [1,2], with captured orb-web spider Zygiella x-notata (det. johanb).

This is a very rare wasp in the Netherlands that until recently only occured in Limburg [3], the most southern province, but may be expanding northwards according to Hans. This wasp has a preference for Zygiella x-notata. The observation and comment by Hans can be found here.

An awesome observation!! Only bummer is that I did not get the species correct the first time 😅. In hind site the differences between the species are clear.

A nice little wasp that I hadn’t seen before. She pulled the spider across the ground but unfortunately I did not see what she did with the spider as I was distracted by another insect that was my target at the time.

Auplopus carbonarius ♀︎, met gevangen Venstersectorspin (Zygiella x-notata)
Auplopus carbonarius ♀︎, met gevangen Venstersectorspin (Zygiella x-notata)

References

1 Nederlands Soortenregister

2 NIEUWENHUIJSEN, Hans. De spinnendoders van Nederland (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). Jeugdbondsuitgeverij, 2008.

3 Peeters, T.M.J., C. van Achterberg, W.R.B. Heitmans, W.F. Klein, V. Lefeber, A.J. van Loon, A.A. Mabelis, H. Nieuwen-huijsen, M. Reemer, J. de Rond, J. Smit, H.H.W. Velthuis, 2004. De wespen en mieren van Nederland (Hymenoptera: Aculeata). – Nederlandse Fauna 6. Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum Naturalis, Leiden, knnv Uitgeverij, Utrecht & European Invertebrate Survey – Nederland, Leiden.

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