“Tarantula wasp”?
While on vacation in Arizona, we were hiking in the desert and came to an area where we were almost being chased off by this flying insect, the we saw why, attached photos we took very carefully, but what am amazing sight to see, I know the “T” was paralyzed, but that’s a big arachnid to be carried away by a bug. Anyway my question is, what’s that Bug?
Melissa
Hi Melissa,
Your wasp is a Tarantula Hawk, a Spider Wasp in the genus Pepsis. The female Tarantula Hawk will drag the paralyzed Tarantula to a burrow and lay an egg on it. Adult Tarantula Hawks are frequently found drinking nectar on Milkweed and other desert flowers. We are lamenting that your photo isn’t of a higher resolution because we would have loved to crop and enlarge it.