Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Tarantula Hawk (Wasp)

Pepsis formosa

Description:

Black Body, Orange Wings. Up to 2 inches long.

Habitat:

Deserts of Southwest United States.

Notes:

The female tarantula hawk captures, stings, and paralyzes the spider, then either drags her prey back into her own burrow or transports it to a specially prepared nest, where a single egg is laid on the spider’s abdomen, and the entrance is covered. When the wasp larva hatches, it creates a small hole in the spider's abdomen, then enters and feeds voraciously.

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

2 Comments

JudyCrawford
JudyCrawford 9 years ago

Very, very painful yes, but dangerous only to the tarantula and those who are allergic to the sting.

Desmond.E.S.O
Desmond.E.S.O 9 years ago

These can be very dangerous!

JudyCrawford
Spotted by
JudyCrawford

Arizona, USA

Spotted on Nov 1, 2013
Submitted on Nov 2, 2013

Related Spottings

Tarantula Hawk Painted Grasshopper Tarantula Hawk Tarantula Hawk

Nearby Spottings

Prairie Gentian Thistledown Velvet Ant Arizona Toad Spotting

Reference

Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team