Tarantula Hawk

Description:

At up to 2 1/2-inches in length, it is one of the largest of wasps. It is metallic blue-black in color with blue-black or yellow-orange wings edged in black. It has black antennae and long, velvety black legs with hooked claws. The tarantula hawk flies low along the ground in search of spiders.

Habitat:

Miller Springs Park is a 360-acre park located below Belton Lake, on the Leon River, in Bell County, Texas. It contains diverse riparian terrain, including limestone bluffs, estuarial wetlands, mountain cedar hilltops, and riverside cottonwood stands. Numerous trails traverse prairie-like open spaces and forests of native cedar elm, live oak, and red oaks. Recent floods have created a new canyon that reveals numerous layers of sedimentary rock and fossils. Area wildlife includes white-tail deer, red foxes, coyotes, black squirrels, armadillos, and about 200 species of birds in the course of the year.

Notes:

Adults feed on flower nectar, pollen, and the juice of berries and other fruits. But the larvae feed on tarantulas provided to them by their mother: The female searches the ground for tarantulas. If found in its burrow, she will strum the tarantula's web, pretending to be prey. When the tarantula appears, she stings it. The female tarantula hawk then drags the paralyzed tarantula to her own burrow, legs an egg upon its body, then covers the burrow. When the egg hatches, the larva feeds on the tarantula, consuming it in about 30 days.