Bloody Spider-hunting Wasp (Homonotus sanguinolentus)
Key Details
| Taxonomic Groups: | Invertebrate > insect - hymenopteran > Wasp |
| Red List Status: | (Not Relevant) [(not listed)(nr)] |
| D5 Status: | |
| Section 41 Status: | (not listed) |
| Taxa Included Synonym: | (none) |
| UKSI Recommended Name: | Homonotus sanguinolentus |
| UKSI Recommended Authority: | (Fabricius, 1793) |
| UKSI Recommended Qualifier: | (none specified) |
| Red List Citation: | (not listed) |
| Notes on taxonomy/listing: | Listed as Endangered (RDB1) in Shirt (1987) and Falk (1991). |
Criteria
| Question 1: | Does species need conservation or recovery in England? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Its sole prey is the spider Cheiracanthium erraticum in rough heathland. Management of heathland should be sympathetic to this spider. Habitat threatened by afforestation, over-grazing by deer or domestic livestock, natural scrub succession and development. It is the subject of a Back from the Brink Species Information Guide. |
| Question 2: | Does recovery/ conservation depend on species-specific actions? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | Yes. The species-specific actions relate to its spider host in heathland. Prevention of excessive grazing, preventing scrub growth, pine invasion and fires and the maintenance of high water table in valley mire sites should be the main targets. |
| Question 3: | At a landscape scale, would the species benefit from untargeted habitat management to increase habitat mosaics, structural diversity, or particular successional stages? |
| Response: | Yes |
| Justification: | General control of grazing and scrub growth on damp heathland should be beneficial. In heathland siters, the spider needs large areas of tall, rough heathland or Purple-moorgrass vegetation (although it is found far more widely and in different habitats not inhabited by Homonotus). |
Species Assessment
| Current step on the Species Recovery Curve (SRC): | 2. Biological status assessment exists |
| Recovery potential/expectation: | Low - Relict or natural rarity |
| National Monitoring Resource: | Structured - insufficient |
| Species Comments: | Back from the Brink project has identified limiting factors, notably over-grazing, scrub growth and fires. |
Key Actions
Key Action 1
Proposed Action: Disseminate appropriate survey skills to find larvae in spider's nest retreats, through training events.
Action targets: 2. Biological status assessment exists
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 1 year
Scale of Implementation: Not applicable
High priority sites: Heaths of Hampshire, Surrey and Dorset
Comments: Most Hymenoptera surveys comprise the search for adults, but for Homonotus it is thought that searching for larvae in the spider's nest could be the most efficient monitoring method. Training sessions should teach volunteer surveyors how to spot these spider nests and how to examine them for the wasp larva attached to the host spider.
Key Action 2
Proposed Action: Implement annual monitoring programme at selected sites across the species' range.
Action targets: 3. National Monitoring Plan agreed and implemented
Action type: Status survey/review
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: ≤ 20 sites
High priority sites: Witley Common (Surrey); New Forest; Dorset heaths
Comments: Baseline data on population sizes is still needed, to inform any changes that result from management changes
Key Action 3
Proposed Action: Implement moderate grazing at sites to create specific suitable habitat requirements for the species.
Action targets: 6. Recovery solutions trialled
Action type: Habitat management
Duration: 3-5 years
Scale of Implementation: Unknown
High priority sites: Those where grazing pressure is most intense.
Comments: Over-grazing by deer will be difficult, if not impossible, to control, but livestock grazing regimes could be influenced at key nature conservation sites.
Acknowledgment:
Data used on this website are adapted from Threatened species recovery actions 2025 baseline (JP065): Technical report and spreadsheet user guide (Natural England, 2025). Available here.