Did you know that there is a wasp that lays eggs in spiders and uses them both as host and food for its larvae? In this blog, we cover this amazing tiny wasp that paralyzes and enslaves huge spiders for its benefit.
Spider wasps are parasitoid wasps whose hosts are spiders forced to incubate the wasp larva laid by a female wasp inside the abdomen of spiders.
The larva feeds on the spider, leaving behind the vital organs. Then, the poor spider is forced into making a cocoon web for the larva to pupate into adult wasps. Ultimately, they kill the paralyzed spider.
What Are Spider Wasps?
Spider wasps are solitary wasps that belong to the Pompilidae family. There are nearly 5,000 species of wasps in this family.
They are mainly predators of spiders and feed on their larvae. But some species can kill and eat adult spiders.
Other species also live as parasites on smaller spider wasps.
As these wasps are solitary, they do not form colonies that need protection. Thus, they aren’t aggressive.
They are active during summer and live in forests, woodlands, wetlands, and even urban areas. Since the adults are nectarivores, you will find them flying around flowers for most of the day.
These wasps live on all continents except Antarctica.
What Do They Look Like?
The most commonly found spider wasps are the Cryptocheilus bicolor.
These are bigger than most other wasps and have a broad orange band on their abdomens. Their females can be as long as 1.35 inches.
The rest of the wasp’s body is black, and its wings are orange colored. The legs are of an orangish-yellow color as well.
The wasps keep their wings down but tend to flicker them when hopping and running. Their long legs allow them to run fast on the ground.
What Do They Eat?
Spider wasps actually do not feed on spiders as adults. They feed on nectar from flowers, juice from overripe fruits, and honeydew from aphids and similar arthropods.
As larvae, however, they feed on spiders, and the way they hunt and eat them is how they got their names.
The adult wasps have developed several tactics in order to catch live spiders, paralyze them and drag them to their nests so that the larvae can feed on them.
For example, some species of spider wasps are known to bite the legs of hairy spiders, injecting venom and paralyzing them.
Tarantula Hawks prefer to attack the abdomen of tarantulas, where injecting venom is easier and reaches their nervous system directly.
Reclinervellus nielseni wasps have scales on their feet that help them to walk on spider webs and attack the spider at the center of the web.
Why Do They Attack Spiders?
They attack spiders mainly for two reasons; to incubate their eggs and as food for their larvae.
Spider wasps lay their eggs about a foot deep beneath the earth in their underground nest. When the eggs hatch, they need to have food readily available to survive.
So these wasps have devised an innovative solution to this problem – they use host spiders to lay their eggs, and those spiders become the food for the larvae as well.
However, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s first explain how a small wasp is able to overpower a predator as feared as a spider.
Spider Wasp Adaptations To Hunt Spiders
Spider wasps are bigger than others of their species but smaller compared to the spiders that they hunt (such as tarantulas).
A typical tarantula hawk might reach about 2 inches in length, whereas a tarantula would be bigger than five inches.
However, this does not deter the wasps from attacking and hunting spiders because they have evolved defenses that make any spider attacks futile.
For example, these wasps have hard exoskeletons which the spider cannot pierce in order to inject its venom.
Moreover, they have long legs and are very fast movers. There is speculation that their quick movements confuse the spiders they hunt, which is why they do not put up a lot of fight.
Thirdly as winged insects, spider wasps clearly have the advantage of flying up or down if the spider tries to do something.
For example, most spider wasps are able to fly straight up several feet when needed.
Some of them have claws on their legs which help to hold the spider and carry it back to their nest.
Here is a video of this fight:
How Does The Wasp Attack the Spider?
The egg-carrying female wasp moves under the spider from the back while lying on her back in order to reach the abdomen.
The abdomen is the most vulnerable spot for a spider and has direct connections to its central nervous center.
She then pierces the spider’s abdomen with her stinging mouthpart, with the objective of paralyzing it.
The wasps use two mechanisms to do so. Firstly, the sting itself generates pain, making them temporarily paralyzed.
Secondly, the venom they inject into the spider causes permanent damage to their nervous system, leaving the body paralyzed.
Lastly, some species of spider wasps often bite off the hind legs of the spiders so that they cannot move, incapacitating them for life.
After all this, the spider is nothing but a zombie that is living and can emit feces but not move any of its body parts.
The wasp then drags the spider back to her nest. Spider wasp nests usually have multiple chambers, each one meant for one egg and its host insect.
Upon reaching the nest, the spider wasp leaves the spider outside, goes inside the nest, and checks it. Then it comes out and drags the spider in and lays its egg in the spider’s body.
How The Spider Becomes Food
In a few days’ time, the eggs begin to hatch from the spider’s body, and the larvae come out. The spider is ripe for eating at this point, still alive and fresh.
The larvae start feeding on the spider but are careful not to eat the vital organs until the very end, making sure that the spider lives the worst possible nightmare in its final days.
Reclinervellus Nielseni Enslaves Spiders To Build Webs for Them
As if laying their eggs on them and eating the spider alive was not enough, one particular species enslaves their host spiders to build their cocoon for them before killing them off.
The Reclinervellus nielseni species of spider wasps attack the arachnid Cyclosa argenteoalba, making them their hosts.
These spiders build two types of webs; one to trap insects they prey on, and another called the resting web, which does not bear the sticky threads that help catch the prey.
This web is essentially meant for the spider to rest (talk about holiday retreats!)
Reclinervellus nielseni wasps are able to walk on spider webs. They sting these orb weaver spiders, which keeps them alive but makes them incapable of moving.
Next, they take advantage of the size of the spider to incubate their larvae. Once the larvae of the wasp hatches, they start feeding on the fluids inside the spider’s body.
As the larvae reach pupation, they alter chemicals inside the host spider’s brain that change their behavior.
These mind-altering chemicals cause the orb-weaving spiders to make one last safe web or cocoon structure for the larvae to pupate.
And as a final act of subjugation, the larvae then kill the spider before pupating in the cocoon prepared for them by those very spiders.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are spider wasps harmful to humans?
No, spider wasps are solitary wasps and thus do not have colonies to defend. So, they are generally not aggressive to species other than spiders.
However, spider wasps have stingers, and if a human gets in their way or irritates them, the wasp sting can be very painful. In fact, their stings are recorded as one of the most potent ones in the world.
Do wasps lay eggs in tarantulas?
Yes, tarantula hawks a species of spider wasps that paralyze tarantulas to lay their eggs.
They do this by stinging tarantulas below their abdomen and biting off their hind legs, making them incapable of moving.
Then they lag eggs inside them, which hatch to feed on the spider itself.
What happens if you get stung by a tarantula wasp?
Tarantula hawks are not as dangerous as the tarantula itself to humans because they do not inject us with life-threatening venom.
Moreover, they rarely sting you as they are not aggressive. Unfortunately, if you do ever get stung, the tarantula hawk’s sting is considered one of the most painful in the world.
For at least 5-10 minutes, you will be totally incapacitated and most likely lying on the ground screaming. After that, there might be redness and swelling. These will subside in a few days.
If you are allergic to wasps or any chemical they secrete, then the sting can be very dangerous.
How painful is a spider wasp sting?
Wasps are known for their painful stings. The sting of a spider wasp, such as a tarantula hawk wasp, is unbearable. On the Schmidt pain index, it is the number two most painful sting in the world.
A skin-soothing gel might help relieve the pain. Spider wasp stings are not known to cause any skin damage unless you are allergic to them.
Wrap Up
Spider wasps are known for enslaving spiders for their benefit. Their adults paralyze spiders almost twice their size and use them to incubate their eggs.
Their larvae feed them, and some even get them to build cocoons for them! Thank you for reading.
