Spider Eating Bug
November 18, 2009
Dear Bugman, my friend was out in his garden the other day and saw this bug attacking a spider. It eventually carried it off down a hole. The bug was about the size of a small car… or maybe more like 5 or 6 centimetres. Later he found his cat screaming and leaping about with the bug on her back. Are you able to identify this garden terrorist?
Belinda
Wellington, New Zealand
Spider Wasp with Prey
Hi Belinda,
Though your humor amuses us, we should probably clarify for our readership that the cat was safe from being attacked by this awesome Spider Wasp in the family Pompilidae. We are unable to find a matching species on the Brisbane Insect website, so your specimen might be restricted to New Zealand. Spider Wasps feed on nectar, but the young feed on spiders provided by the female wasp. The female Spider Wasp stings and paralyzes a spider and then buries it after laying an egg. The developing, helpless larva then can feed on fresh meat since the sting paralyzed the spider, but left it alive.
Spider Wasp with Prey
Identification Courtesy of Karl
November 18, 2009
Hi Daniel:
I believe Belinda’s Spider Wasp is Sphictostethus nitidus. The common name is sometimes given as the Golden Hunting Wasp, not to be confused with a completely different Spider Wasp from Australia with the same common name. The website for Landcare Research provides excellent information on this and other New Zealand Spider Wasps, as well as a link to a huge downloadable report on the Pompilidae of New Zealand (No. 12 in the “Fauna of New Zealand” series). According to that document there are only 4 genera and 11 species of Spider Wasps in New Zealand, including one other species of Sphictostethus (S. fugax). So it shouldn’t be too hard to nail down this species if one had the time and stamina to plow through all the information provided. Assuming it is S. nitidus, there are three distinct forms (2 on the North Island and 1 on the South Island), distinguished primarily by the degree and pattern of dark pigmentation on the otherwise yellowish wings. Regards.
Karl
Strange fly with Curly Q Antenna
November 18, 2009
This bug was witnessed in our office this afternoon walking across a desk. Another person in the office said that they saw it earlier and it flew away. I was fascinated by the antenna, which I hope you can see in the picture, as the ends of them do almost a 360 degree loop, like a curly q. If you could give us any help identifying it, that would be great!
Eric
South Florida, right on the ocean, about 50 yards from the beach.
Spider Wasp
Dear Eric,
This is a Spider Wasp in the family Pompilidae though we don’t even want to attempt to try to identify the species. Spider Wasps, as their name implies, prey upon spiders. Adult wasps feed on pollen and nectar, but the helpless young are carnivorous. The female Spider Wasp captures spiders and paralyzes them with her sting. She then lays an egg on the spider and the young wasp has fresh paralyzed living meat rather than a dead dried out spider to feed upon. According to BugGuide, the following are family characteristics of Spider Wasps:
“Typically dark colored with smoky or yellowish wings; a few are brightly colored.
Slender with long and spiny legs, hind femora typically extending beyond tip of abdomen.
Tibiae of rear legs have two prominent spines at apex (distal end, next to tarsi)
Wings not folded flat on top of abdomen.
Mesopleuron with a transverse suture (see this image).
Like the Vespidae, the Pompilidae have the pronotum extending back to the tegulae, the pronotum thus appearing triangular when viewed from the side and horseshoe-shaped when viewed from above.” In your photo, the spines on the rear legs are visible.
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Posted 19 November 2009
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KY: Black wasp with showy yellow antennae
August 26, 2009
This wasp has been around my house for the past few weeks, but its the first time I’ve ever seen this species anywhere. It looks significantly larger than the common red wasp here. Reminds me of a tarantula hawk but maybe slightly smaller. I looked through pictures of the local spider wasps but couldn’t find a match–looks more similar to that one from Australia except the wings look darker. Has very quick, jerky movement and exhibits wing shaking or flickering. It appears to be foraging for possibly other insects the way it is crawling all over these vines in the picture. It is very aggressive and has chased and pursued me hundreds of yards–so I’m lucky to have finally snapped these pictures at a safe distance. Body is completely black, Wings are black and s hiny with brown terminal ends, and the antennae are slightly mustard yellow and can curl. The passionflower with the posterior view is exactly 1″ from base to top (excluding the spikes on top of the bud) for scale, but I can’t tell if the wasp is forshortened by perspective due to its angle because it “looks” longer than that to me. It’s a different bud than the one with the side view of the wasp–I wasn’t able to find that bud again.
I’m not too crazy about this thing because of its aggressiveness, but I’d like to know more. If it is invasive or dangerous I might try to eradicate it, but if it is something rare or less dangerous that it looks, I might try to leave it be!
Jeff
Louisa, KY, USA
Spider Wasp: Entypus unifasciatus
Dear Jeff,
We are excited to be getting photos of a magnificent new species for our website. You are correct that this is a Spider Wasp in the family Pompilidae. The species is Entypus unifasciatus and it doesn’t have a common name. BugGuide has a considerable amount of information on this species.
Spider Wasp: Entypus unifasciatus
BugGuide indicates: “Life Cycle There is one generation per year. Males emerge first. By late August/early September most females are worn. By mid- to late September most female are very worn, with most of the apical area of the wing being tattered away. Life cycle probably more drawn out in far south, but there is very little difference. Most individuals do not persist into October. … Parasitoid of spiders, including wolf spiders (Lycosidae). … Females dig a burrow that ends in a terminal chamber off of the side of a mammal burrow or large crack in the ground. The serrations on the hind tibiae are used to aid the movement of soil out of the burrow entrance. The position in which the egg is laid is unknown. Larvae feed on one large spider and, as in all Pompilids that have one generation per year, overwinter as pupae.” We hope knowing a bit about this magnificent wasp will keep you from trying to eradicate it.
Spider Wasp: Entypus unifasciatus
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Posted 26 August 2009
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half the size of my hand, orange antennae that curl back, hairy, orange wings, black body, 8 legs
Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 9:20 AM
I was walking outside and I saw this bug following me on the sidewalk. I let it pass me as I walked behind it I noticed how big it was and that it was not flying. I had to chase it to take a picture of it because it walks fast. IT has orange wings, orange hairy antennae that curl back when it touched something, a hairy black,blue body, look like a stinger back end but no stinger was present, big eyes, and when I captured it, it started to lay eggs which made me more interested. What type of bug is this?
Jen
Riverside, California, United States
Tarantula Hawk
Hi Jen,
This is a female Tarantula Hawk, a wasp in the genus Pepsis. You miscounted the number of legs, which should only be six. We are quite curious about your observation that upon capture, the Tarantula Hawk laid eggs. Here is what Charles Hogue writes about Tarantula Hawk in his book, Insects of the Los Angeles Basin: “When a female wasp finds a tarantula, she alights and engages in battle. The wasp then stings the spider on the underside between the legs and usually succeeds in paralyzing but not killing it. She has previously dug a shallow burrow, using her mandibles and legs as pick and shovel, or selected an earth crack, rodent burrow, or even the burrow of a tarantula for a nest, and she now drags the paralyzed prey into this hole, lays an egg on the victim, and then seals the tunnel with soil. A supply of fresh food is thus insured for the developing larva. The sting of the female tarantula hawk is described as extraordinarily painful by those who have experienced it.”
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Posted 30 June 2009
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Wasp eating large spider
Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 5:08 PM
We found this wasp eating a large spider. Unusual find… This picture was taken near Vilcabamba, Ecuador.
Kyle
South America
Spider Wasp with prey in Ecuador
Hi Kyle,
The wasp is some species of Spider Wasp in the family Pompilidae. We believe the spider is a Huntsman Spider. For clarification, Spider Wasps do not eat spiders. Female Spider Wasps sting and paralyze spiders to provide food for larval wasps. According to BugGuide: “Spider wasps prey on spiders. Some species sting and paralyze their prey and then transport it to a specially constructed nest before laying an egg. Other species leave the paralyzed spider in its nest and lay an egg upon it.” Adult Spider Wasps feed on nectar from flowers.
Giant black ant with wings? Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 7:13 PM
Ok, what is this thing? My son found it in our Southern CA backyard on a cool June day. We live in a desert area. I have never seen anything like this. It looked like a giant plastic ant, about 2 – 2 1/2 inches long, but with wings. It flew all around the yard and and climbed up the house wall for a while. Any idea what it is?
Michael and Amanda in Santa Clarita
Canyon Country, CA
Tarantula Hawk
Dear Michael and Amanda,
There is no way we can possibly answer the hundreds of emails that arrived in our week long absence, so we are only selecting subject lines that catch our attention. Your great subject line and spectacular photo of a Tarantula Hawk prompted us to choose your letter this morning. Tarantula Hawks are Spider Wasps in the genus Pepsis. The adult female stalks, does battle with, and stings and paralyzes Tarantulas to feed her brood, eventually burying the paralyzed Tarantula in a burrow and laying an egg. The hatchling wasp larva then has fresh meat upon which to feed. The sting of a female Tarantula Hawk is reported to be extremely painful. Male Tarantula Hawks do not sting. The antennae of the female are curled and those of the male more straight. Both adult male and female Tarantula Hawks feed on pollen and they are especially attracted to milkweed. We have seen large Tarantula Hawks in the Los Angeles River Bed, but they are more commonly found in desert areas like Joshua Tree. The largest examples we have ever seen, the size of a small bird, were on the beach in San Felipe Baja California Mexico.
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Posted 14 June 2009
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Giant Wasp
Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 6:42 AM
Location: South Africa, Western Cape, Near Malmesbury (Swartland, West Coast)
Weather: 38 Degrees Celsius in the shade, 44 in the sun. No wind. No clouds.
Looks: It has the typical wasp body, only much more bulky as opposed to slender, its really HUGE! Probably 5-6cm when straight. The whole body is black. The tentacles (or radars, what ever it might be called) are dark orange about 1mm thick and spirals once. The eyes are about 3mm wide. The wings and legs are also the same dark orange as the tentacles. The stinger, when pushed out fully is probably about 8mm long, very thin and curves slightly (it looks as it might be a very painful sting). The wasp did seem kind of clumsy. It made a lot of noise when flying. Wingspan, probably about 3.5-4cm. That’s it, I think.
I’ve lived in the western cape and have never seen a WASP come even close to the size of this big boy.
Mr?
South Africa, West Coast
probably Tarantula Hawk from South Africa
Dear Mr?
This is a Spider Wasp in the family Pompilidae. It bears an uncanny resemblance to a North American Tarantula Hawk in the genus Pepsis. According to Wikipedia, there are Tarantula Hawks in Africa. The sting of a female Tarantula Hawk is reported to be one of the most painful of all wasp stings.
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Posted 03 March 2009
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Spider Wasp: Pompilidae family
Sat, Oct 25, 2008 at 8:25 PM
Hi Daniel,
This wasp was scurrying up a gum tree with a large spider for lunch.
See http://www.geocities.com/ brisbane_wasps/YellowAntWasp.htm for more information about this predator.
Grev
East Coast Australia
Spider Wasp with prey from Australia
Hi Grev,
Nice to hear from you again. Thanks so much for helping to expand our new What’s That Bug Down Under? portion of our website. By the way, adult Spider Wasps don’t eat spiders. The spiders are food for the wasp larvae.
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