56 The Essex Naturalist
and Pisauridae. The prey is grabbed at the base of a leg whilst the wasp
walks backwards.
Listed for the Colchester area by Harwood (1884) without further detail. More
recently there are records since 1990 from seven localities in five different ten-
kilometre squares, at Glemsford Pits, Rainham, Mill Wood Pit, Dagenham
Chase, Ferry Fields, East Tilbury and Burnham-on-Crouch.
P. (Priocnemis) fennica Haupt
The only prey recorded is Pardosa pullata, in Ireland. Records of this and the
next species have been confused in the past.
Essex records number just two. It is recorded for the Epping Forest Conservation
Centre at High Beech between 1976 and 1990 (Hanson 1992) and from Birch
Spring, Mill Green Woods on 18th May 1992.
P. (Priocnemis) hyalinata (Fabr.) - Notable B
This species has, in the past, been confused with P. fennica Haupt., above. The
only prey record is of a female carrying a Lycosid spider in Sussex.
Listed for the Colchester area by Harwood (1884) without further detail.
P. (Priocnemis) parvula Dahlbom
Typically a wasp of sandy soils and heathlands, it preys on spiders in the families
Lycosidae, Thomisidae and Salticidae.
The only Essex records to hand are of a single female from Little Hallingbury
rubbish tip near Bishops Stortford on 9th October 1995 (C Watson) and a
single female associated with sandy grassland at Foulness Point in 1992.
P. (Priocnemis) pusilla Schiodte
Reliable prey records are for spiders of families Clubionidae and Salticidae. The
species is "difficult" and can be confused with P. parvula.
Evidently mote widespread than P. parvula with records from Mill Wood Pit,
Grays, Dolphin Quarry, Purfleet, Broom Hill at West Tilbury and West Tilbury.
P. (Umbripennis) perturbator (Harris)
A species associated with drier soils, it has been confused with P. susterai in the
past and there is no confirmed note of its prey spiders. More common in the east
of Britain than the west.
So fat, this spider-hunting wasp is recorded in Essex from six, fairly widely spread
localities at Glemsford Pits, Mucking Heath, Tiptree, Great Bardfield, Broaks
Wood and Burnham-on-Crouch.
SUBFAMILY POMPILINAE
Agenioidius cinctellus (Spinola)
A species of dry places and sandy soils, also recorded on old walls. It nests in a
variety of cavities including snail shells, preying principally on Salticidae but
also on Thomisidae.