Tarantula Hawk Wasp

A two inch trantula hawk wasp collects nectar from a milkweed plant.

NPS/ T. Miller

The tarantula hawk moth (Hemipepsis spp.) is somewhat conspicuous when loudly buzzing around Parashant. The large 1½ to 2½ inch metallic black body with bright yellow-orange wings may strike fear into onlookers as the long insect flies past an unsuspecting ear. There is very little predation on the tarantula hawk wasp and they are most often active during the late spring and summer months however, they have been known to be out and about in the winter months as well.

Tarantula hawk wasps feed on the nectar of flowers from milkweed, and mesquite and soapberry trees. One might think that the name of the tarantula hawk wasp comes from eating tarantulas however this is only half true. The wasp uses tarantulas for two specific reasons. Female tarantula hawk wasps attack tarantula spiders by injecting venom that paralyses the spider. The spider is then dragged by the female into a burrow. Once in the burrow the female will lay a single egg on the spider. She then crawls out of the burrow, seals it up and flies off with the spider still alive and paralyzed inside. Once the egg hatches the larvae will feed on the tarantula until it has enough energy to dig out of the burrow.

While the sting of a tarantula hawk wasp is not lethal to humans it is rated at the highest level of pain for an insect sting. The pain of this sting doesn’t last long for mammals, but for humans it can be the most excruciating 3 minutes of their life.