Tarantula hawk wasp (Pepsis mildei) with paralyzed tarantula
We were relaxing on our patio the other evening when I saw something out of the corner of my eye - this big resident wasp had found and stung a tarantula! After rushing inside and fumbling around trying to get the camera and macro / flash assembled (and discovering a dead battery in the camera!) I figured she'd be gone, but she was still dithering, looking for a hole to put the spider in. So I kept firing away while she dragged it around, and finally she seemed to be satisfied with a squirrel hole, of all things, although I didn't see her pull it all the way in (and at that point it was almost completely dark).
As a biological note, these tarantula hawk wasps (and this one was small - only around 3 cm long) find a tarantula, sting it, and drag its paralyzed body to a hole in which they place the sleeping spider. Then she lays one egg on the spider, and the young larval wasp feeds on the fresh but anesthetized tarantula for around 30 days! Then the larva pupates and later emerges as an adult wasp.
I've seen a female wasp that looks like this one flying around at dusk for the past couple weeks, on and off, so suspect it MIGHT be the same one each time.
North Peak, Cuyamaca Mountains, California.
July 26, 2021
Tarantula hawk wasp (Pepsis mildei) with paralyzed tarantula
We were relaxing on our patio the other evening when I saw something out of the corner of my eye - this big resident wasp had found and stung a tarantula! After rushing inside and fumbling around trying to get the camera and macro / flash assembled (and discovering a dead battery in the camera!) I figured she'd be gone, but she was still dithering, looking for a hole to put the spider in. So I kept firing away while she dragged it around, and finally she seemed to be satisfied with a squirrel hole, of all things, although I didn't see her pull it all the way in (and at that point it was almost completely dark).
As a biological note, these tarantula hawk wasps (and this one was small - only around 3 cm long) find a tarantula, sting it, and drag its paralyzed body to a hole in which they place the sleeping spider. Then she lays one egg on the spider, and the young larval wasp feeds on the fresh but anesthetized tarantula for around 30 days! Then the larva pupates and later emerges as an adult wasp.
I've seen a female wasp that looks like this one flying around at dusk for the past couple weeks, on and off, so suspect it MIGHT be the same one each time.
North Peak, Cuyamaca Mountains, California.
July 26, 2021