ALL YOU EVER NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT THE Tarantula hawk wasp

NEITHER ARACHNID NOR BIRD, THE tarantula hawk is a large wasp (there are over 130 known species) that gets its confusing name from a fearsome habit of preying on tarantulas and other large spiders to feed its larval young.

- BY JO CAIRD

It is part of the spider wasp family and usually docile, feeding almost exclusively on nectar, but provoke one at your peril — their sting is one of the most painful in the world, second only to that of the bullet ant.

What do tarantula hawks look like and where do they live?

They have a blue-black or green-black body, often iridescent, set off by a pair of orange or amber-coloured wings that serve to warn potential predators that this insect is not to be messed with. This defensive colouring - the technical term is 'aposematic' - is effective: tarantula hawks have no predators. Pepsis heros, the largest species of tarantula hawk, can measure up to 11cm long, with a stinger of up to 7mm. Other species might grow to around 5cm long. Tarantula hawks are found all over the world, except in Europe and Antarctica. They are particularly common in Central America and throughout the southwestern United States.

What do these wasps eat?

Adults are nectarivorous, meaning they feed exclusively on nectar and pollen. Their larvae, however, are carnivorous and parasitoid, feeding on live prey provided for them by their mother. Having hatched from an egg laid in the body of a tarantula, the larva feeds on a fluid called haemolymph, the insect equivalent of blood and lymph.

Is the stinger used to kill?