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Spider Wasp and Huntsman Spider Prey hit with Broom in Australia

wasp
Location: melbourne, australia
December 18, 2011 6:42 am
This huge ie 4-5 cm wasp was dragging huntsman spider up the window. Spider still seemed alive
I live in Melbourne, Australia and it is December-beginning of Summer.
Wasp not aggressive to me, BUT NOT HAPPY when I hit it with a broom. It dropped twitching spider & flew off!
Signature: Dom

spider wasp prey australia dom 300x296 Spider Wasp and Huntsman Spider Prey hit with Broom in Australia

Spider Wasp and Huntsman Spider Prey

Dear Dom,
We have several excellent images of Australian Spider Wasps with Huntsman Spider prey in our archives.  The female Spider Wasp stings and paralyzes the Spider and then drags it back to her burrow to act as food for her brood.  The adult wasps feed on nectar.  We can imagine that it is a difficult task for the female Spider Wasp to locate her prey, sting it and then begin the long haul back to her burrow, and it is quite unfortunate that your broom hitting incident interrupted her task.  We hope that now that you are better informed, you will allow these food chain dramas to play out without unnecessary interventions in the future.

 

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Posted 19 December 2011 § Huntsman Spiders ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Spider Wasp preys upon Huntsman Spider

Deceased huntsman spider with unknown wasp
Location: Eastern Suburbs, Sydney, about 1km away from the pacific ocean.
November 13, 2011 11:45 pm
Hey, I got these series of pictures and this video outside on a warm summers day, on the 14th November, 2011. A warm summer summer in November must mean the southern hemisphere, indeed this image is taken on the eastern suburbs, in Sydney, Australia, about 1km away from the ocean.
Im fairly sure the spider is an huntsman spider but I do not know about the wasp. Does it normally prey on spiders and other large insects ? Where does it nest, and does it pose a threat to humans ?
(I live with my grandparents, and to say they are squeamish about insects is an understatement)
EDIT : I realized that the wasp has been featured previously on this site, however, I shall share these high resolution (if you think they are) images of what I found. I also catch huntsman spiders inside my home and release them too. I shall attach those too, if you wish to share them.
I hope you find the images to be of reasonable quality and I hope they will be useful for your site. You may repost/embed the video to your site too, if you wish.
Signature: Sufyan

spider wasp huntsman australia sufyan 300x206 Spider Wasp preys upon Huntsman Spider

Spider Wasp preys upon Huntsman Spider

Hi Sufyan,
We actually have this particular Food Chain drama posted to our website several times including this recent posting of a Spider Wasp and its Huntsman Spider prey.  We believe the Spider Wasp is Cryptocheilus bicolor, but we do not feel confident trying to identify the Huntsman Spider to the species lever because there are so many Huntsman Spiders in Australia.

spider wasp huntsman australia sufyan 2 300x206 Spider Wasp preys upon Huntsman Spider

Spider Wasp preys upon Huntsman Spider

Spider Wasps are solitary wasps, and a female provisions the nest with paralyzed spiders for her brood.  The adult Spider Wasps feed upon pollen, and only the larval wasps are carnivores, but they are unable to hunt for themselves.  It is important to realize that this Huntsman Spider is paralyzed, not dead.  A dead spider would soon dry out, making it an unacceptable food for the larvae.  By paralyzing the Huntsman Spider, the living spider supplies the larval wasp with fresh meat.  The larva feeds upon non-vital meat first so that the spider is literally eaten alive.  Since the nest is underground and we have received so many images of this particular Spider Wasp scaling walls while dragging a large paralyzed Huntsman Spider, we have deduced that the Spider Wasp is unable to take off from the ground with such a heavy payload, but by climbing to gain altitude, it is able to fly or glide towards its burrow with the heavy Spider in tow.  Spider Wasps are not aggressive, though we suspect they may sting if provoked or carelessly handled.

spider wasp huntsman australia sufyan 3 300x206 Spider Wasp preys upon Huntsman Spider

Spider Wasp preys upon Huntsman Spider

 

 

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Posted 14 November 2011 § Huntsman Spiders ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged: ,

Spider Wasp

Insect in New Mexico Garden
Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico, USA
September 4, 2011 5:06 pm
Wondering what this creature is – it is about 1.5-2 inches in length and was crawling in the sand/clay near a low stone wall in my back yard. It spread its wings briefly but not again before disappearing into the stones so I didn’t get a picture of the wingspread. Thanks for your help!
Signature: mnchilemom

spider wasp new mexico 300x200 Spider Wasp

Spider Wasp

Dear mnchilemom,
You had an encounter with a Spider Wasp in the family Pompilidae, and we believe it is in the tribe Pepsini, a group that includes the Tarantula Hawks.  You may browse through the possibilities on BugGuide.

Thank you so much! I look forward to reading your book on my iPad!

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Posted 04 September 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °
What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Tarantula Hawk

Giant Winged Ant?
Location: El Cajon, CA 92021
September 1, 2011 11:23 am
It looked like a giant ant. It was approximately 2 inches long with a green body that was segmented like an ant and it had brown wings.
The climate when I saw the bug was over cast and cool. It was between 8-9 am. Between 62-70 degrees. It’s generally very hot in this area of San Diego but it’s a very mild morning. It was in the grass and then on a tree (palm).
Hope you can figure it out and let me know because I’m facsinated to know…
Signature: Thanks!

tarantula hawk el cajon 300x226 Tarantula Hawk

Tarantula Hawk

We really wish we had seen this magnificent Tarantula Hawk, Numero Uno on our Big 5 list of Bugs that really know how to defend themselves around silly humans.

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Posted 02 September 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Spider Wasp attacks Wolf Spider

Some sort of spider wasp
Location: Bel Air, Maryland, U.S.A.
August 20, 2011 6:14 pm
I was coming back to the house from the garden. I walked around the corner and noticed a wasp fly up and away from a spider. I got to the door and it returned to the spider. I grabbed the camera and tried to get a couple shots. I couldn’t get very close without it flying off. So I snapped a picture from as close as I could get. The spider is pretty large, just slightly smaller than a quarter.
It was about 4 p.m. on August 20 near Bel Air, Maryland. Temperature was about 88F and it was rather humid since we’ve been having thunder storms pretty much ever evening.
I have a larger photo if it will help.
Signature: Greg in Maryland

spider wasp foodchain greg 300x231 Spider Wasp attacks Wolf Spider

Spider Wasp attacks Wolf Spider

Dear Greg,
We are very happy to be posting your thrilling photo to our Food Chain page.  You are correct that this is a Spider Wasp.  We have identified it as Tachypompilus ferrugineus based on photos posted to BugGuide.  Though the curled position of the spider does not permit us to be certain of its identity, we thought it must be either a Wolf Spider or a Funnel Web Spider, but the genus page for Tachypompilus on BugGuide indicates:  “Females provision nests mainly with Lycosids.”  That would indicate that the spider in your photo is a Wolf Spider.

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Posted 22 August 2011 § Wolf Spiders ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

Spider Wasp

Sphex nudus?
Location: Hawthorne, CA
August 20, 2011 6:02 pm
Hi,
I think, thanks to a hint that Eric Eaton posted on bugguide.net, that I have this properly identified as a Sphex nudus (Katydid wasp). Can you please confirm?
Signature: Thanks, Anna Carreon

spider wasp anna ca 300x270 Spider Wasp

Spider Wasp

Hi Anna,
Goodness, you have sent us a few tough identifications, and though we spent some time trying to research identities, we didn’t have much luck.  We are not sure which comment attributed to Eric Eaton has caused you to believe this is a Katydid Wasp, but we are not certain the Katydid Wasp is found in California based on the BugGuide distribution map.  There are similarities between your individual and the Katydid Wasp, and it is possible it is a similar looking relative that is not represented on BugGuide.  We wish you had a photo that showed the face better.  We believe this is most likely one of the Spider Wasps in the family Pompilidae, however, we were unable to find a match on BugGuide.  These are the family characteristics that have influenced our opinion:  “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).”  We will contact Eric Eaton to try to get his opinion.

spider wasp anna ca 2 300x210 Spider Wasp

Spider Wasp

Eric Eaton provides Spider Wasp identity
Daniel:
Your first instincts are correct.  This is a spider wasp, Episyron coterminus posterus:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/146243/bgimage
Nice images, too.
Eric

Hi Daniel,
I’m sorry to have sent you tough identifications.  You know, as I continued looking at distribution maps and the faces of the Katydid Wasps, I started to doubt my identifications.  I figured I’d just wait to hear from you.  Thanks very much.  If you have a chance, will you please also thank Eric Eaton for me?
As I read more on this wasp, I’m surprised at how long it held still for me – almost 5 minutes.  I really do have to think about getting a little better camera.
Anna

Posted 21 August 2011 § ‡ Comments (0) °

Procrastination and a Tarantula Hawk image from our archives

Like our good friend Susan Lutz of Eat Sunday Dinner, we find ways to procrastinate.  Susan now procrastinates by cooking and developing new recipes, like her Procrastination Spaghetti Sauce, and though we have other commitments, we frequently defer them by turning to all the marvelous email requests that are sent to What’s That Bug?  We are supposed to be writing a letter of recommendation for Elizabeth who is applying for a Fulbright Scholar Award, and as the deadline looms upon us, all of the writing to date has been in our mind.  We turned to an old computer for some historical records involving Elizabeth, and we realized that a marvelous photo taken by Joshua Stanley and Marnia Johnston of the Tarantula Hawk on Milkweedfrom our archives was there in its high resolution form.  The photo predates both the acquisition of our new office computer and the site migration we underwent several years ago.  From the current computer and our current WTB? access, only a thumbnail version of this photo was available, and we are now thrilled to republish the image in a higher resolution form.  Just click on the photo to see an enlarged version.  You can do this with all of the photos that were posted after our site migration.

tarantula hawk josh 300x206 Procrastination and a Tarantula Hawk image from our archives

Tarantula Hawk and Milkweed Longhorn on Milkweed

The reason we are especially interested in having a larger resolution version of this photo available is that we have become very interested in the complex ecosystem surrounding milkweed, and we have recently created a Milkweed Meadow tag.  We want to propose a slide presentation and talk to the Theodore Payne Foundation on the insects associated with milkweed, with a concentration of Southern California species that depend upon Esclapias eriocarpa,  Indian Milkweed, and other native Milkweeds that can be purchased at the TPF nursery.  To bring our procrastination full circle, that is Elizabeth weeding recently in Elyria Canyon Park.

Elizabeth Weeds 20110731 web 242x300 Procrastination and a Tarantula Hawk image from our archives

Elizabeth Weeds in the Elyria Canyon Park Milkweed Meadow

 

Posted 14 August 2011 § Longhorn Beetles ‡ Comments (2) ° Tagged:

Spider Wasp attacks Spider in France

Ant-Wasp-Fly attacking and Killing spider!
Location: Pierrefeu, Alpes-Maritimes, France
August 14, 2011 9:25 am
Hello Bugman/woman,
I witnessed this brutal attack and wondered if you could identify both creatures.
The ”Ant-Wasp-Fly” insisted 3 times to chase the spider up a tree and knock it off and eventually managed to put the spider on its back and killed it.
Signature: brutal attack

do you have a higher resolution image?

spider wasp food chain france 300x248 Spider Wasp attacks Spider in France

Spider Wasp Paralyzes Spider

This was a screen shot of a 720p video (iPhone 4) of the attack. Is there any way I could ‘upload’ that to you?
Thanks!

Though we are hoping for a higher resolution image, we are nonetheless posting this great documentation of a Spider Wasp in the family Pompilidae stinging and paralyzing what appears to be a Wolf Spider.  The Spider Wasp does not eat the Spider it has preyed upon.  The Spider will provide food for a larval wasp and the female Spider Wasp will provision her nest with paralyzed Spiders so that her brood will have a supply of fresh meat.  Dead spiders would dry out, but the paralyzed spider is eaten alive, with the vital organs being eaten last.  Though the quality of this image is poor, we believe we have identified the wasp Arachnospila anceps based on a photo on the Commanster Pompilidae page.  That identification is further supported by the images posted on the Nature Conservation Imaging web page, but it should be noted that this black and red coloration pattern is not rare in Spider Wasps, and the individual in your photo may be another species.  We would still love a higher resolution image if one is available.

PS: I also saw this very similar insect a day later in the same area (see attachment). Maybe it is the same one as in the video link I sent..?

spider wasp france 300x206 Spider Wasp attacks Spider in France

Spider Wasp

Hi again Raphael,
Spider Wasps in the family Pompilidae take nectar as adults as opposed to feeding as predators.  This individual does look very much like the same species in the previously published image.

Posted 14 August 2011 § Wolf Spiders ‡ Comments (0) ° Tagged:

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