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A tarantula hawk is a spider wasp (Pompilidae) that preys on tarantulas.Tarantula hawks belong to any of the many species in the genera Pepsis and Hemipepsis. They are one of the largest parasitoid wasps, using their sting to paralyze their prey before dragging it into a brood nest as living food; a single egg is laid on the prey, hatching to a larva which eats the still-living host.
Pepsis menechma, the elegant tarantula hawk, is a species of spider wasp in the family Pompilidae, widely distributed in North America and Central America. [1] [2] [3
Pepsis mildei, also known as Milde's tarantula-hawk wasp, is a species of predatory spider wasp native to the Western Hemisphere. These wasps capture live tarantulas to feed to their larva; the adults graze on flowers. [ 1 ]
Tarantula hawks have dark, black bodies and distinctive orange wings, and they are larger than mud daubers and rusty spider wasps. Also, the antennae of tarantula hawks are short and curled as ...
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The targeted spider is typically unable to kill the wasp, because the wasp can just fly out of reach, so at best the spider fights fiercely to escape. [14] Tarantula hawks (Pepsini) do not attack when adult tarantulas are close to or in their burrows. Instead, the wasps seek out adult males who have left their burrows in search of females to ...
Pepsis grossa, alongside a golden paper wasp for scale. Due in part to confusion over the distinctness of various color forms, until 2002 this species was known by the name Pepsis formosa, including a subspecies P. formosa pattoni, but C.R. Vardy synonymized both forms of P. formosa into P. grossa.
Pepsis versus tarantula in Arizona. Pepsis (from Ancient Greek πέψι lit. pepsis meaning 'digestion, cooking') is a genus of spider wasps belonging to the family Pompilidae. Species within this genus are also called tarantula hawks, as they usually hunt tarantulas, similarly to many species in the genus Hemipepsis.