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Pison

{{Short description|Genus of wasps}}

{{for|the biblical river|Pishon}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Automatic Taxobox

| image = Black and white Pison wasp.jpg

| image_caption = A wasp of the genus Pison gathering water for nest construction.

| image_alt = A wasp of the genus Pison gathering water for nest construction.

| taxon = Pison

| authority = Spinola 1808{{cite book|last1=Spinola|first1=Massimiliano|last2=Gravier|first2=Yves|authorlink1=Maximilian Spinola|title=Insectorum Liguriae species novae aut rariores, quas in agro ligustico nuper detexit, descripsit, et iconibus illustravit Maximilianus Spinola, adjecto catalogo specierum auctoribus jam enumeratarum, quae in eadem regione passim occurrunt|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bvfdA5e8F-IC&dq=Pison&pg=RA2-PA254|accessdate=17 March 2018|publisher=sumptibus auctoris|language=French|oclc=229921216|chapter=XCI Alyson ater|year=1806}}

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = See text

}}

Pison is a cosmopolitan genus of wasps within the family Crabronidae. The genus comprises 145 described species, although many species, especially in South America remain undescribed.Bohart, Richard Mitchell, and Arnold S. Menke. Sphecid wasps of the world: a generic revision. University of California Press, 1976.

Distribution

The genus is found throughout the tropical and warm temperate regions of the world, but does not extend into the more northerly temperate regions. Most species occur in the Southern Hemisphere, with a third of species occurring in Australia. This distribution pattern has been thought to indicate that the genus was once much larger, and has declined in the face of competition with more competitive wasp genera, leaving the genus largely concentrated in geographically-isolated regions.Turner, Rowland E. "29. Notes On The Wasps Of The Genus Pison, And Some Allied Genera." Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. Vol. 86. No. 4. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 1916.

The habit of many species of building nests in holes in wood, keyholes, and similar situations has led to a number of species being distributed widely by ships and aircraft. Several species, including P. argentatum and P. iridipenne are of uncertain native distribution, having been dispersed by humans in antiquity.

Biology

Pison wasps raise their young on a diet of living, but paralysed, spiders. Spiders are collected by adult females, paralysed by means of a sting, and an egg is laid on the spider or spiders before they are sealed into a chamber constructed by the female. The paralysed spiders do not decay, and upon hatching the wasp larva eats the spider, before pupating and emerging from the chamber as an adult.{{cite web|url=http://myrmecos.net/2012/04/10/pison-the-spider-hunter/|title=Pison the spider hunter|author=|date=10 April 2012|website=myrmecos.net|accessdate=16 March 2018|archive-date=17 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317035820/http://www.myrmecos.net/2012/04/10/pison-the-spider-hunter/|url-status=live}}

While many species construct large mud nests in sheltered situations such as caves or tree hollows, other species make use of natural cavities such as hollow plant stems, beetle burrows, or abandoned bird nests, while still others dig their own nesting tunnels. Typically, multiple spiders-and-egg cells will be placed adjacent to one another in a larger nesting structure. Each cell is sealed off from adjoining eggs with mud or dung pellets. This sealing off of the young from each other is probably done to prevent competition and ensure that each young obtains sufficient food.

Species and other subtaxa

At one time the genus Pison was divided into the subgenera Pison, Pisonoides, Krombeiniellum, and Entomopison.{{cite journal|last1=Menke|first1=Arnold S.|title=Pison in the New World: a revision (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Trypoxylini)|journal=Contributions of the American Entomological Institute|date=1988|volume=24|issue=3|pages=1–171|language=English|asin=B000721IBQ| issn=0569-4450 |oclc=715120981 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/63317496#page/403/mode/1up}} These were later discarded in favor of species groups including (for the Americas):

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=Accepted species=

The following species are accepted {{as of|2018|2|21|lc=y}}:{{cite web|author1=|title=Pison|url=http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/entomology_resources/hymenoptera/sphecidae/genera/Pison.pdf|website=Catalog of Sphecidae|publisher=California Academy of Sciences|accessdate=18 March 2018|location=San Francisco, CA|language=English|date=21 February 2018|archive-date=19 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180319151051/http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/entomology_resources/hymenoptera/sphecidae/genera/Pison.pdf|url-status=live}}

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=''Pison'' nomina nuda=

The following are not officially described and have nomen nudum status:

=Species previously in ''Pison''=

These species have been transferred from Pison to other genera:

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References

{{Reflist}}

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Category:Crabronidae

Category:Hymenoptera of Australia