Neither an arachnid nor a bird, this large wasp (there are over 130 known species) gets its confusing name from a fearsome habit of preying on tarantulas and other large spiders.
What are tarantula hawk wasps?
Tarantula hawks are part of the spider wasp family, and measuring from around 5cm to 11cm long, it’s found all over the world.
Tarantula hawks are usually docile, feeding almost exclusively on nectar, but provoke one at your peril – its sting is one of the most painful in the world, second only to that of the bullet ant.
What do tarantula hawk wasps look like?
Tarantula hawks have a blue-black or green-black body, often iridescent, and set off by a pair of orange or amber-coloured wings that serve to warn any potential predators that this dangerous insect is not to be messed with. This defensive colouring – the technical term is ‘aposematic’ – is effective: tarantula hawks have no predators.
Where do tarantula hawks live?
Tarantula hawks are found all over the world, except for Europe and Antarctica. They are particularly common in Central America and throughout the southwestern United States.
How do tarantula hawks sting?
Female tarantula hawks have a stinger that they use for injecting venom into prey to paralyse it – in the largest species this formidable weapon can grow up to 7mm long. She’s also equipped with hooked claws that she uses to help pin down her spider prey. You can tell the sexes apart by looking at the antennae: the female’s are curved, while the male’s are straight.
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Pepsis heros, the largest species of tarantula hawk, can measure up to 11cm long, with a stinger of up to 7mm. Other species might grow to around 5cm long.
What do tarantula hawks eat?
Adult tarantula hawks are nectivorous, meaning they feed exclusively on nectar and pollen. Their larvae, however, are carnivorous and parasitoid, feeding on live prey provided for them by their mother. Having hatched from an egg laid in the body of a tarantula, the larva feeds on a fluid called haemolymph, the insect equivalent of blood and lymph.
How do tarantula hawks hunt?
Following mating, a female tarantula hawk will lie in wait outside the burrow of a tarantula or other large spider, tapping on the ground or strumming on a web to tempt her victim to emerge. After what might turn out to be a long fight – the tarantula hawk is often much smaller than its prey – she will use her long stinger to inject a powerful venom into the spider’s thorax.
How do the they eat tarantulas?
This venom paralyses the spider but crucially does not kill it – the tarantula hawk needs it alive to feed her larva. She drags the spider to its own burrow or into one she has prepared (this may be some distance away), lays a single egg on the spider’s body, and leaves, covering up the entrance after her.
Three or four days later, the egg hatches and the tarantula hawk larva burrows into the still alive spider’s abdomen. Over the course of about three weeks, the larva consumes the spider bit by bit, going through five growth stages. The spider only dies once the larva has eaten its vital organs, which it leaves until last. It then spins a cocoon and pupates for 15-20 days, ultimately emerging from the spider, and then the burrow, as an adult tarantula hawk.
Why do they pick such large adversaries?
While it might seem counterintuitive for the female tarantula hawk to choose an adversary so much larger than herself, she does so for good reason. The larger the spider she leaves for her larva to feed on, the larger it will become as an adult wasp, and therefore the more likely it will be to find a mate, when it comes time to breed (if it’s a male, at least).
How to tarantula hawks attract a mate?
Female tarantula hawks fly to the top of mountain ridges to find males in the territories they have secured in the trees. Though the largest males are able to occupy the highest, most desirable territories, a smaller male may try to intercept a female on her way up, or will take on a larger male to steal his roost. They do so by competing in dramatic aerial displays in which the wasps will spiral upwards for up to 30m before diving back down towards the tree in contention. Displays can last for up to an hour.
Are tarantula hawks dangerous?
Adults are nectivorous, feeding only on nectar and pollen, and are usually docile. So despite their gruesome way of providing for their young, tarantula hawks are not dangerous to anything but their arachnid prey, unless provoked.
How painful is a sting from a tarantula hawk wasp?
If you do get stung, however, you’ll certainly know about it, as the tarantula hawk’s sting is one of the most painful in nature. The American entomologist Justin Schmidt, creator of the Schmidt pain scale for stinging insects, puts the wasp at number two on his scale, beaten only by the bullet ant. He described the tarantula hawk’s sting as “instantaneous, electrifying and totally debilitating”, comparable to the pain caused by a hair dryer being dropped into your bathtub. The only consolation is that this terrible ordeal only lasts five minutes (victims of bullet ant stings can expect to suffer for up to 24 hours), and requires no medical attention.
Are tarantula hawks sociable?
Tarantula hawks are solitary creatures, coming together only to mate. Unlike many other species of wasps, a female builds and supplies her own nests without the help of a colony.
How long do they live for?
The average lifespan of a tarantula hawk wasp is 6-12 months for females), while males just live for 2-3 months
