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Scientific Name: Pepsis grossa
This fearless insect isn’t a weird cross between a spider and a bird, but it does hunt the eight-legged creatures it’s named after. Read on to learn about the tarantula hawk, one of the largest members of the spider wasp family and this month’s Bug of the Month!
Appearance
Occupying regions throughout the world including India, Africa and Australia, tarantula hawks are also present in the United States. Found in the southwestern U.S., tarantula hawks’ large bodies make them easily recognizable as a different type of wasp. Common wasps are less than an inch long, while species like the Asian giant hornet and our Bug of the Month can reach up to 2.5 inches long.
As if their size wasn’t a clear indicator of how formidable they are when provoked, tarantula wasps’ bodies are also colored blue-black with brightly colored wings. This clear display of aposematism, commonly known as warning coloration, signifies that this wasp is not to be trifled with. Add to that long legs with hooked claws, as well as a 0.25-inch stinger that inflicts a very painful sting, and you’ve got the recipe for a beautifully dangerous predator.
Diet
Tarantula hawks’ diets primarily consist of sugar-rich nectar produced from flowering plants. The flowers of milkweeds, soapberry and mesquite trees are common preferences, with some wasps displaying intoxication when consuming fruits that have fermented, making it hard for them to fly.
But they’re named tarantula hawks — they must eat tarantulas, right? Preying upon and parasitizing these spiders is just one part of their life cycle. After stinging and incapacitating a tarantula, the tarantula hawk drags it to a burrow, where it lays a single egg in the spider’s abdomen. When the egg hatches, the larva feeds on the still-breathing tarantula over weeks, making sure to keep its vital organs intact so it can feed for as long as possible.
While this may seem like something from a science fiction movie, this is regular day at the office for the tarantula hawk.
Painful Punch
As with bees, male tarantula hawks do not have stingers, so it’s the female’s role to hunt. Using the aforementioned stingers to paralyze their victims, these wasps are able to get the upper hand on tarantulas significantly greater in size.
Even though they aren’t aggressive towards humans, tarantula hawks will sting if they’re provoked or handled improperly. The pain inflicted by one sting to a human ranked four on a scale of one to four using the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, an entomology scale used to gauge trauma from stings. The excruciating pain, only lasting two to three minutes, has been described as being struck by a bolt of lighting. Ouch!
Sources:
“Absurd Creature of the Week: If This Wasp Stings You, ‘Just Like Down and Start Screamining’” Wired
“The wasp that kills tarantulas” BBC
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