ALLOCHARES AZUREUS: AN UNUSUAL WASP EXPLOITS 
UNUSUAL PREY (HYMENOPTERA: POMPILIDAE; 
ARACHNIDA: FILISTATIDAE) 
By Mark Deyrup 1 , James T. Cronin 1 , and 
Frank E. Kurczewski 2 
The spider wasp genus Allochares includes a single species, A. 
azureus (Cresson), occurring across the extreme southern U.S. from 
Florida to California, and southward to the Mexican states of Vera 
Cruz and Jalisco (Evans 1951). This species shows, for a pompilid, 
unusual morphological simplicity and nudity. The legs are almost 
spineless, the body is devoid of erect hairs, and the mandibles lack 
setae. The tarsal claws, unlike those of other pompilids, are almost 
straight, widened dorsoventrally, and flattened below (Fig. 1 A). The 
head is strongly convex in front and somewhat concave behind, and 
the pronotum is rather long (Evans 1951, 1966a) (Fig. 1C). Adults 
have been collected on flowers of Baccharis and Solidago (Evans 
1951); otherwise, nothing is known of the biology of A. azureus. 
At the Archbold Biological Station (Highlands Co., Florida), A. 
azureus was first seen around buildings. A recent 3-year Malaise 
trap study of scrub insects at the Station produced no specimens of 
A. azureus, indicating that this wasp might be associated with 
domestic spiders. This suspicion was confirmed in the summer of 
1987, when we observed A. azureus hunting a species of hackled 
band spider, Filistata hibernalis Hentz, found in dark, confined 
places, such as the inside of open sheds. We realized then that 
A. azureus was probably amenable to laboratory and field study. 
Materials and Methods 
Filistata hibernalis, collected from the buildings of the Archbold 
Biological Station, were established in 30 X 30 X 30 cm screened 
cages. From one to four spiders eventually occupied each cage 
'Archbold Biological Station, P.O. Box 2057, Lake Placid, FL 33852, Corre- 
spondence to Mark Deyrup. 
2 State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, 
Syracuse, NY 13210. 
Manuscript received by the editor October 7, 1988. 
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