''Arachnospila trivialis'' is a widespread

spider wasp Wasps in the family Pompilidae are commonly called spider wasps, spider-hunting wasps, or pompilid wasps. The family is cosmopolitan, with some 5,000 species in six subfamilies. Nearly all species are solitary (with the exception of some group-ne ...

of sandy soil areas of the

Palaearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

Description

A medium-sized red and black spider wasp. The males have a quite distinctive genital plate, but females are very similar to other species assigned to the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...

''Ammosphex'', such as '' A. anceps'' and considerable care is required to identify them.

Distribution

Northern and central Europe, including southern and western areas of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, and across Asia to the Pacific.

Biology

''A trivialis'' is single brooded, flying from May to August. The only confirmed prey are spiders of the genus ''

Xysticus ''Xysticus'' is a genus of ground crab spiders described by C. L. Koch in 1835, belonging to the order Araneae, family Thomisidae. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek root ''xyst'', meaning "scraped, scraper". Description ''Xysticu ...

'' and it may prey on wolf spiders of the family

Lycosidae Wolf spiders are members of the Family (biology), family Lycosidae (), named for their robust and agile hunting skills and excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and usually do not spin spider web, webs. Some are opportunis ...

too. Apparently little appears to be known about ''A trivialis'' nesting biology, but like other '' Arachnospila'' species it is likely to excavate a nest in loose sand having already paralysed a spider and concealed it in nearby vegetation. Adults have been observed to visit the flowers of

wild parsnip Wild parsnip is a common name for several plants and may refer to: __NOTOC__ *Wild parsnip ('' Pastinaca sativa''), is a Eurasian weed with edible root but toxic sap in the leaves and stems *Garden angelica (wild celery) *Giant hogweed (''Heracleum ...

. ''A. trivialis'' will prey on spiders of both sexes while most spider wasps prefer to prey on females.

References

Hymenoptera of Europe Pompilinae Insects described in 1843 Taxa named by Anders Gustaf Dahlbom {{apocrita-stub