Pepsis heros (Fabricius)

FRENCH GUIANA: Montsinéry -Tonnegrande Commune, Bagne de Annamites; 10 June 2018; A Canziani. Host: Theraphosa blondi (Latreille) (Goliath birdeater tarantula) ( Theraphosidae), adult or subadult female. A series of photographs shows the wasp pulling the paralyzed tarantula backwards on the ground, dorsal side upward, grasping the base of its right pedipalp with her mandibles (Canziani 2018; A. Canziani, Cayenne, French Guiana, 2020 pers. comm.).

VENEZUELA: Amazonas State, near Gavilan; October 1992. Host: Theraphosa apophysis (Tinter) (Goliath pinkfoot tarantula) ( Theraphosidae), adult female. The wasp approached the tarantula on the ground, near its burrow, turned onto her [her being the female wasp] back, and tried to sting the tarantula in the underside of its cephalothorax. However, the tarantula bit the wasp before it could be stung causing the wasp to walk away injured (R. C. West, 2020 pers. obs.). Such behavior is a rarity among spider wasps (F. E. Kurczewski, 2020 pers. obs.).