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Wasps and Hornetshuge cuban wasp
Found this guy all dried up in a rural, Cuban town. He was massive, and a very iridescent blue which the camera unfortunately did not pick up that well. I trust that that needle-like butt appendage is his stinger? Ouch.
K. Bobbio
Blacksburg, Virginia
We are relatively certain this is a species of Tarantula Hawk in the genus Pepsis. These large irridescent wasps prey on Tarantulas, stinging and paralyzing them and then laying eggs. The comatose spider is a fresh food supply for the developing larva. Adults are pollen and nectar feeders and females have a nasty sting. We expect your photo will terrorize a few of our readers who claim their puny (by comparison) wasps are enormous.
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