Hemipepsis

Hemipepsis is a genus of large pepsine spider wasps found primarily throughout the tropics. They are commonly known as tarantula hawks. Hemipepsis wasps are morphologically similar to the related genera Pepsis and Entypus, but distinguishable by the pattern of wing venation. In South Africa 18 plant species from three plant families, the Apocynaceae, Orchidaceae, and Asparagaceae subfamily Scilloideae are pollinated exclusively by Hemipepsis wasps. thumb|right|A Hemipepsis sp. wasp, Kruger National Park, [[South Africa]] thumb|right|A female Hemipepsis sp. wasp dragging a paralyzed tarantula, Sandy Bay, [[South Africa]]

==Species== About 180 species are placed in Hemipepsis, including: Hemipepsis acer (Bingham, 1897) India Hemipepsis aenea (Cameron, 1904) Sikkim Hemipepsis aeruginosa (Smith, 1855) Sumatra, Assam Hemipepsis aethiops (Kohl, 1913) Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe Zambia, Ethiopia Hemipepsis amamiensis (Tsuneki, 1990) Japan Hemipepsis analis (Haupt, 1933) New Guinea Hemipepsis anthracina (Smith, 1855) Indonesia Hemipepsis approximata (Haupt, 1941) Borneo Hemipepsis ascensoi (Zavattari, 1907) Zimbabwe, Uganda Hemipepsis atrox (Drury, 1782) Hemipepsis audax (Smith, 1855) south-east Asia (Sikkim, Tenasserim Hemipepsis aureomicans (Haupt, 1953) Indonesia Hemipepsis aurosericea (Guérin-Méneville, 1838) Java Hemipepsis australasiae (Smith, 1873) Indonesia, Australia, giant spider wasp Hemipepsis bakeri (Banks, 1934) Philippines Hemipepsis bellicosus (Smith, 1873) India, Myanmar Hemipepsis braunsi (Arnold, 1932) Zimbabwe, South Africa Hemipepsis brunnea (Klug, 1834) Middle East, Turkmenistan Hemipepsis brunniceps (Taschenberg, 1869) Mozambique, Zimbabwe, South Africa Hemipepsis buchardi (Wahis, 2000) Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Yemen Hemipepsis caelebs (Arnold, 1932) Malawi, Zimbabwe, South Africa Hemipepsis capensis (Fabricius, 1781) Uganda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, South Africa Hemipepsis ceylonicus (Saussure, 1867) India, Sri Lanka, Singapore Hemipepsis combusta (Smith, 1855) Zimbabwe Hemipepsis commixta (Arnold, 1932) Uganda Hemipepsis consanguineous (Saussure, 1867) Sri Lanka Hemipepsis convexa (Bingham, 1890) Sri Lanka, Myanmar Hemipepsis corallipes (Wahis, 2000) Yemen Hemipepsis crassinervis (van der Vecht & Wilcke, 1953) Java, Sumatra Hemipepsis curvinervis (Cameron, 1902) Taiwan, Assam Hemipepsis dahlbomi (Stål, 1857) Hemipepsis deceptor (Smith, 1859) Sulawesi Hemipepsis dedjas (Guérin, 1848) Senegal, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, South Africa Hemipepsis dubitans (Banks, 1934) Philippines Hemipepsis elizabethae (Bingham, 1893) India, Myanmar, Java Hemipepsis erythropyga (Arnold, 1932) Nigeria Hemipepsis exasperate (Smith, 1863) Indonesia Hemipepsis excepta (Banks, 1934) Philippines Hemipepsis eximia (Wahis, 1960) India Hemipepsis fallax (Saussure, 1892) Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, South Africa Hemipepsis fenestratus (Smith, 1855) Sikkim Hemipepsis ferox (Arnold, 1948) Zimbabwe Hemipepsis ferruginea (Smith, 1861) New Guinea Hemipepsis fervida (Smith, 1861) China, Taiwan, Zimbabwe, South Africa Hemipepsis fischeri (Wahis, 1968) Indonesia Hemipepsis flavopicta (Smith, 1891) India Hemipepsis fulvipennis (Fabricius, 1793) India, Sri Lanka Hemipepsis fumipennis (Smith, 1859) Sulawesi Hemipepsis gigas (Taschenberg, 1869) Java, Borneo Hemipepsis glabrata (Klug, 1834) Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, South Africa Hemipepsis hanedai (Tsuneki, 1990) Japan Hemipepsis heros (Guérin-Méneville, 1849) Ethiopia, Senegal Hemipepsis heteroneura (Turner, 1918) Uganda Hemipepsis hilaris (Smith, 1879) Lesotho, Zimbabwe, South Africa Hemipepsis hottentota (Taschenberg, 1869) Yemen Hemipepsis ichneumonea (Guérin-Méneville, 1831) New Guinea, Australia Hemipepsis indica (Linnaeus, 1758) India, Myanmar, Indonesia, New Guinea Hemipepsis insignis (Smith, 1855) West Africa Hemipepsis intermedia (Smith, 1873) Sri Lanka, India Hemipepsis iodoptera (Stål, 1857) Uganda, South Africa, Ghana Hemipepsis jacobsoni (van der Vecht & Wilcke, 1953) Java Hemipepsis kangeanensis (van der Vecht & Wilcke, 1953) Java Hemipepsis kiogae (Arnold, 1932) Yemen Hemipepsis lacaena (Smith, 1861) Ambon Island Hemipepsis laeta (Smith, 1873) Myanmar Hemipepsis latirostris (Arnold, 1932) Uganda, Zimbabwe Hemipepsis lucernaris (Wahis, 2000) Yemen Hemipepsis luctuosa (Arnold, 1948) Zimbabwe Hemipepsis lusca(Fabricius, 1804) India Hemipepsis luzonica (Banks, 1934) Philippines Hemipepsis martini (Bingham, 1896) Sumatra Hemipepsis mashonae (Arnold, 1932) Kenya, Zimbabwe Hemipepsis matangensis (Cameron, 1905) Borneo Hemipepsis mauritanica (Linnaeus, 1767) Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Italy, Spain, Turkey Hemipepsis mexicana (Cresson, 1867) Mexico, Colombia Hemipepsis minora (Banks, 1934) Philippines Hemipepsis misera (Cameron, 1901) Singapore Hemipepsis mlanjiensis (Turner, 1918) Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique Hemipepsis momentosa (Smith, 1873) Borneo Hemipepsis negritos (Banks, 1934) Philippines Hemipepsis nigricornis (van der Vecht & Wilcke, 1953) Java Hemipepsis obscurus (Lucas, 1898) Tanzania Hemipepsis obsolete (Saussure, 1867) Sri Lanka Hemipepsis obsonator (Bingham, 1897) India Hemipepsis ocellata (Fabricius, 1782) Cameroon Hemipepsis ochropus (Stål, 1857) Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon Hemipepsis odin (Strand, 1914) Malaya Hemipepsis opulenta (Smith, 1863) Misool Hemipepsis perhirsuta (Banks, 1940) Madagascar Hemipepsis perplexa (Smith, 1855) India, Myanmar, Taiwan Hemipepsis petri (Schulz, 1906) Assam Hemipepsis pilosipes (Arnold, 1948) Zimbabwe Hemipepsis placida (Bingham, 1896) Tenasserim Hemipepsis procera (Wahis, 1968) Indonesia, Myanmar, Malaysia Hemipepsis quadridentata (van der Vecht & Wilcke, 1953) Java Hemipepsis refulgens (Turner, 1918) Uganda Hemipepsis robertiana (Cameron, 1903) Borneo Hemipepsis rubida (Bingham, 1890) Sri Lanka Hemipepsis rufofemoratus (Lucas, 1898) Zanzibar Hemipepsis sabulosa (Smith, 1855) Egypt, Iran, Yemen. Benin, Eritrea Hemipepsis sericeipennis (Bingham, 1902) Zimbabwe, South Africa Hemipepsis severa (Drury, 1782) Hemipepsis simpsoni (Arnold, 1932) Ghana Hemipepsis sinuosa (Kohl, 1913) Nigeria Hemipepsis sogdiana (Zonstein, 2000) China, Taiwan, Japan, India, Kyrgyzstan Hemipepsis speculifer (Lepeletier) Java, Malaya Hemipepsis sublivida (Arnold, 1948) Zimbabwe Hemipepsis sulfureicornis (Arnold, 1960) Democratic Republic of Congo Hemipepsis sycophanta (Gribodo, 1884) Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Malaya Hemipepsis tagala (Gribodo, 1884) Philippines Hemipepsis taiwanensis (Tsuneki, 1989) Taiwan Hemipepsis tamisieri (Guérin, 1848) Uganda, Ethiopia, Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone Hemipepsis taprobanae (Cameron, 1901) Sri Lanka Hemipepsis thione (Smith, 1861) Ambon Island Hemipepsis toussainti (Banks, 1928) Hispaniola Hemipepsis turneri (Arnold, 1936) South Africa Hemipepsis unguicularis (Kohl, 1913) Democratic Republic of Congo Hemipepsis unifasciata (Radoszkowski, 1881) Angola, Ethiopia Hemipepsis ustulata Dahlbom, 1843 United States of America Hemipepsis vanuana Banks 1941 Solomon Islands Hemipepsis variabilis ((Arnold, 1932) Uganda Hemipepsis vechti (Wahis, 1959) Hemipepsis veda (Cameron, 1891) India Hemipepsis velutina (van der Vecht & Wilcke, 1953) Indonesia Hemipepsis venatoria (Bingham, 1896) Myanmar Hemipepsis vespertilio (Gerstaecker, 1857) Uganda, Zimbabwe, South Africa Hemipepsis vestitipennis (Turner, 1918) Uganda, Somalia, Yemen Hemipepsis vindex (Smith, 1855) Sub-Saharan Africa and Yemen Hemipepsis viridipennis (Lucas, 1898) Tanzania Hemipepsis vulcanica (van der Vecht & Wilcke, 1953) Java Hemipepsis yayeyamana (Tsuneki, 1990) Japan Hemipepsis yemenita (Wahis, 2000) Somalia, Yemen