Caliadurgus fasciatellus (Spinola)

A.

B.

A- tM beyond B by 30% or less its length.

B- 2tCu usually curved posteriorly, but rather straight anteriorly.

Identification: Very similar in appearance to Priocnemis, but with a few distinct differences in structure. Jugal lobe subtriangular, the apical half of its hind margin rather straight. Pronotum is quite short. Transverse median vein of the anterior wing interstitial with the basal vein or beyond it by a short distance (generally 0.3X the length of the tM. Females are like Priocnemis in general appearance; color is black with the basal part of the abdomen red, and varying red markings on the legs. The wings are hyaline with a rather broad fuscous mark over the marginal cell, extending posteriorly over the apical portion of the third discoidal cell. Males are markedly different. They are similar in coloration, with a black head and thorax but frequently have less red on the abdomen and frequently have more red on the legs. The clypeus is white except dorsomedially and there is a white stripe on the rear edge of the pronotum (often broken medially). The tibial spurs are white.

Taxonomy: Day (1979) explains the reasoning behind abandoning the long used Calicurgus hyalinatus. Apparently both the genus and specific epithet have been misused for some time. The type Sphex hyalinatus Fabricius actually should have applied to the type of a Palearctic species of Priocnemis. Pate proposed a new genus name, Caliadurgus, and designated the type Priocnemis fasciatellus out of the Spinola collection. Therefore the proper combination for this species is Caliadurgus fasciatellus (Spinola) (Day, 1979).

Ecology and Biology: This is a woodland or woodland edge species. It nests in areas of bare soil, preferring areas of sand or clay-sand soil. Prey is captured before the nest is constructed, which is a burrow dug from the ground surface. Paralysis of prey is permanent (Evans and Yoshimoto, 1962).  The prey is cached in a peculiar way; the female suspends the paralyzed spider from twigs or other vegetation by using silk from the spider's own spinnerets (Kurczewski and Spofford, 1985). They prey exclusively upon Araneidae (Krombein et al, 1979).

Flight Period: 203 specimens. 26 May to 26 October. Males generally emerge earlier than females. It is most numerous June through September. There are two to three generations per year.

Range: Transcontinental from southern Canada to Mexico.

Ohio Distribution: Found statewide; recorded from the following 20 counties: Clermont, Coshocton, Cuyahoga, Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Greene, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Hocking, Jefferson, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Muskingum, Ottawa, Pike, and Ross.