Tarantula Hawk

Funflyer

Funflyer

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Since living back in Arizona I've seen hundreds of these buzzing around but, until the other day, I've never seen one earning it's name. They're about 2-1/2" long, and have a stinger like a hypodermic needle but thankfully they don't bother people. I watched her drag this paralyzed spider across my 100 foot patio, then another 150 feet or so across the yard looking for a place to bury it. She was on a mission, awesome!

358cl6d.jpg
 
Those things have a nasty sting. My yellow Lab got nailed on her right front foot and she walked 3-legged for almost two hours. Best to stay away.
 
BC38 said:
I don't like the idea of a spider big enough to span a saucer, and I like the idea of another bug big enough to kill and drag one even less!
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They don't kill the tarantula, they paralyze it. Once a hole has been dug, the spider is dropped in and an egg laid on it. The rest is straight out of an Alien movie.
 
LVSteve said:
They don't kill the tarantula, they paralyze it. Once a hole has been dug, the spider is dropped in and an egg laid on it. The rest is straight out of an Alien movie.
Click to expand...

OK, stun and drag, paralyze and drag, kill and drag, the point is the same. If that think is big enough and bad enough to drag a few ounces of tarantula across the ground, I want nothing to do with it.

Though I'm perfectly OK with them doing their thing to reduce the tarantula population.
 
Tarantula's are quite common here in AZ. We had one on our porch just the other night. My wife simply moved it from the porch to her garden because they are great in eliminating bugs that eat her plants. They are really quite harmless and don't deserve to be killed just because they look scary. If you research them they are quite a very interesting.

The Tarantula Hawk simply uses the tarantula as a host for lying its eggs. It's the hatch-lings that actually end up killing the tarantula.

Tarantula - Wikipedia

Tarantula
 
Have been around the Tarantulas and Tarantula Hawks all my born days. Both are fascinating! And neither has ever given me any trouble at all, except for a start when one is seen unexpectedly. I've never given either one much of any reason to be upset with me. Other than some time spent observing them from some distance, they go their way and I go mine, making sure I don't interfere with their business. It is amazing to watch that big wasp drag a much larger tarantula through tall grass. It's an amazing exercise in strength and persistence!
 
There are hundreds of species (called "parasitoids") that have that life style. Figs, for instance, must have a wasp inside to produce fruit. Galls are produced by wasps. We once had a secretary who said "Alien" was the scariest movie she ever saw==I told her it was "just" a wasp lifestyle! Some parasitic worms are similar (look up schistosoma or schistosomiasis)==some alter behavior.
 
I like watching this clown let all sorts of critters sting and bite him. Here he is stupidly sticking a Tarantula Hawk on his arm. Sting is at 10:30 .

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnExgQ81fhU[/ame]
 
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