Tarantula Hawk
Pepsis grossa
A large spider wasp of deserts, scrublands, and open woodland edges in the southern United States, Mexico, and Central America. Adults feed mostly on flower nectar, while females hunt tarantulas, sting them into paralysis, and drag them to a burrow as food for a single larva. Its metallic blue-black body and orange wings act as warning colors to would-be predators. The sting is famous for being one of the most painful among insects, though the wasp is generally not aggressive unless handled or trapped.
- Type
- Venom / Wing
- Conservation status
- NE
Growth chain
- ?
- ?
- Tarantula Hawk