Spider Hunter, Pt. 4 - _TNY_5820
I heard my wife yelling from the back of the house to bring my camera quickly and when I got to her she showed me this pompilid spider wasp rapidly and effortlessly climbing down the side of house with her paralyzed prey, a Xysticus audax crab spider which was destined to become food for her offspring once she has buried it properly.
Thanks to some helpful pointers in the right direction from Danne Rydgren I managed to figure out it is a female Dipogon variegatus which is a member of the subfamily Pepsinae.
After getting down from the side of the house she forced her way through a spider web and across the yard at a pace which made me feel more like a sports photographer than a macrographer.
Pt. 1: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/30017984218/
Pt. 2: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/29026723227/
Spider Hunter, Pt. 4 - _TNY_5820
I heard my wife yelling from the back of the house to bring my camera quickly and when I got to her she showed me this pompilid spider wasp rapidly and effortlessly climbing down the side of house with her paralyzed prey, a Xysticus audax crab spider which was destined to become food for her offspring once she has buried it properly.
Thanks to some helpful pointers in the right direction from Danne Rydgren I managed to figure out it is a female Dipogon variegatus which is a member of the subfamily Pepsinae.
After getting down from the side of the house she forced her way through a spider web and across the yard at a pace which made me feel more like a sports photographer than a macrographer.
Pt. 1: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/30017984218/
Pt. 2: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/29026723227/