''Dipogon subintermedius'' is a spider wasp from the family

Pompilidae 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 ...

Identification

Like '' D. bifasciatus'', this is an all-black species with bifasciated wings, but the female has shorter antennae than ''D. bifasciatus''.

Distribution and habitat

Found from southern

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

north, it has an isolated population in the central

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland ...

, although the species has not been recorded in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, through central and eastern Europe east to

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

. It is the most common of the three species of ''Dipogon'' found in Britain. It prefers woodland and hedgerows where dead wood is present to provide breeding sites.

Biology

In Britain, this wasp flies from June to September. The only recorded prey in Britain is a species of spider ''

Segestria senoculata ''Segestria senoculata'', sometimes known as the snake-back spider, is a species of spider belonging to the family Segestriidae. It has a Palearctic distribution. The common names of this species (which has a body length of around 9 mm) re ...

'' from the family Segestriidae, but elsewhere, spiders of the genus '' Clubiona'' (

Clubionidae The sac spiders of the family Clubionidae have a very confusing taxonomic history. Once, this family was a large catch-all taxon for a disparate collection of spiders, similar only in that they had eight eyes arranged in two rows and conical anter ...

) have been recorded as prey. The spider is carried to the wasp's nest by its spinnerets, and prey is then malaxated, which may be a process by which the wasp obtains

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respon ...

s necessary to produce eggs; certainly, wasps of the genus '' Dipogon'' do not appear to visit flowers to obtain nectar. The nest is usually constructed in an existing cavity, normally in wood, and old beetle excavations are often used, although cavities in masonry will also be used. The cavity is normally sealed with

spider silk Spider silk is a protein fibre spun by spiders. Spiders use their silk to make webs or other structures, which function as sticky nets to catch other animals, or as nests or cocoons to protect their offspring, or to wrap up prey. They can a ...

, applied using the maxillary bristles which give the generic name to these wasps. Records exist of two larvae of ''D. subintermedius'' on a single specimen of ''S. senoculata''.Shaw, Mark R (1997) Two Dipogon subintermedius (Magretti) (Hym.: Pompilidae) apparently developing on a single spider. Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation, 109. p. 244.

References

Hymenoptera of Europe Pepsinae Insects described in 1886 {{apocrita-stub