Tarantula hawk
Pepsis formosa
Pepsis formosa, sometimes also referred to in German as Tarantulafalke, is a species of wasp from the family of Wegwespen ( Pompilidae ) that hunts tarantulas. The species is the official state insect of New Mexico. The sting of this wasp is evaluated on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index with a score of 4.0.
Features
The wasps reach a body length of 24 to 40 millimeters ( males ) or 20-51 millimeters (females ). Your body is together with the legs stained black and has a predominant bluish green shimmer. Often the body is toned and violet colors or coppery. The twelve-membered sensors are black, the tip of the last segment is usually orange. The wings are usually black in color and have a strong blue-violet shimmer. Depending on the area of distribution the wings are also stained amber or orange, often with a dark edge. The wing base is then more or less in shades of red, the wing tip brightly colored especially in the males. Individuals with brightly colored wings occur particularly in the United States, northern Mexico and the Caribbean, in Southern California, in Baja California and the eastern part of northern Mexico, and further south to occur individuals with black-colored wings. An exception is a population in northwestern Peru, whose pairs of wings are colored basal orange - reddish. The front wings have towards the center to a dark area and finally to pale colored tip back an orange - reddish color. The hind wings are otherwise pale amber, its wing tip is pale and sometimes provided with a narrow, pale orange - red armband.
Occurrence
The species occurs from the southern United States and the Caribbean prior to northern and central Peru and to Guyana and French Guiana. In Mexico they are found at altitudes of about 2000 meters.
Way of life
The adults feed on nectar and fruit. The larvae develop parasitoid of tarantulas. The female paralyzes a spider with a stitch and pulls it backwards either in the lair of the spider or digs to a new cave. She puts from a single egg on the abdomen of the host and closes the entrance hole after oviposition. The wasp larva feeds in the following period of the spider, which pupation takes place in the cave.