Specialised spider-hunting wasps

Wasps are apex predators of the insect world and have developed many survival strategies. One group of wasps focuses on hunting spiders to provide a source of food for their larval offspring

- Mike Burgess.

Wasps belong to the insect order Hymenoptera, which are all 'membrane-winged' and double as pest controllers, pollinators, and even decomposers in practically every ecosystem on earth.

The over 100 000 identified wasp species on earth (and still counting) can be broadly divided into two groups: those that live in colonies (social), and those that live alone (solitary).

Amongst the globe's solitary wasps there are approximately 5 000 spider-hunting wasp species from the family Pompilidae, of which more than 200 are found in South Africa.

These nectar drinking, spider-hunting wasps vary greatly in individual size (anything between 5mm and 50mm) and although harmless to humans, they are all lethal to spiders.

HUNTING SPIDERS