Wasp uses paralyzed spiders to feed growing larvae
Tarantula hawk wasps are the largest stinging insects in Arkansas. Luckily, they are also among the least interested in humans and would much rather be dragging paralyzed tarantulas into a burrow than scaring outdoor enthusiasts.
By Austin Jones
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Oct. 7, 2024
Fast facts:
- Tarantula hawks prey on spiders
- Use paralyzed spiders as food for growing larvae
- “If you don’t like spiders, these wasps are your best friends.” — Austin Jones
(481 words)
(Newsrooms: with art;
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a tarantula hawk wasp!
Tarantula hawk wasps are the largest stinging insects in Arkansas. Luckily, they are also among the least interested in humans and would much rather be dragging paralyzed tarantulas into a burrow than scaring outdoor enthusiasts.
Tarantula hawks are the largest wasps of the family Pompilidae, known commonly as spider wasps. If you don’t like spiders, these wasps are your best friends. They are parasitoids of spiders, meaning that they use live spiders as food for their larvae. Venoms produced by the roughly 5,000 species of spider wasps worldwide aim to immobilize, but not dispatch, their victims. Why? Simple! Because wasps don’t have refrigerators, and dead spiders spoil. By keeping the spiders alive it allows time for their larvae to hatch from eggs and have fresh provisions for their journey to becoming the next generation of flying spider nightmare.
Carry that weight
There are a few species of tarantula hawk wasps in Arkansas, all being large black, or dark iridescent blue-bodied with orange or black wings. Some are larger than others, reaching sizes of up to two full inches in body length, and they need that size for dragging their quarry from the sting site to the wasp’s burrow.
A single female tarantula hawk can bury several tarantulas, each accompanied by a single egg, but not every encounter is won by the tarantula hawk. Tarantulas have venom of their own, and while mostly blind, perhaps have the upper hand when encountered within their own burrow.
One species, the elegant tarantula hawk wasp (Pepsis menechma), is found east of the Mississippi River where tarantulas do not exist. In this part of its range, it has been reported to feed on trapdoor spiders, another group of burrowing spiders closely related to tarantulas.
Solitary and stinging
Unlike paper wasps and yellow jackets, these wasps live solitary lives, and it is also worthy of note that as with all stinging wasps, only the females can sting. But if you find one of these searching along the ground you can bet it is a female. Only they seek their formidable foe.
Males and females feed on the nectar of flowers with a reported affinity for milkweed nectar. They are considered quite docile, and always seemingly preoccupied with the hunt when not refueling at a nectar source, but their sting is considered the most painful in North America by the late Justin Schmidt, creator of the Schmidt sting pain index.
Should you be lucky enough to see one of these denizens prowling the earth or feeding at your local milkweed patch, perhaps think about the incredible chain of events that unfolded to bring it there, and how many generations of tarantulas and wasps have been involved in this age-old drama that hopefully will continue to unfold in the Natural State for generations to come.
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension
Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research,
visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division
of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen
agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption
of best practices. The Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work
within the nation’s historic land grant education system through the Agricultural
Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas
System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension
and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex,
gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital
or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and
is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Media contact: Mary Hightower
mhightower@uada.edu