Tarantula hawk

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Tarantula hawk
Tarantula Hawk, Southeastern Colorado P1270150b.jpg
male Pepsis on a milkweed plant
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Pompilidae
Subfamily: Pepsinae
Tribe: Pepsini
Genera with tarantula hawk species

A tarantula hawk is a spider wasp (Pompilidae) that preys on tarantulas. Tarantula hawks belong to any of the many species in the genera Pepsis and Hemipepsis. They are one of the largest parasitoid wasps, using their sting to paralyze their prey before dragging it into a brood nest as living food; a single egg is laid on the prey, hatching to a larva which eats the still-living host. They are found on all continents other than Europe and Antarctica.

Contents

Description

These wasps grow up to 6.5 centimetres (2+1⁄2 in) long, making them among the largest of wasps, and have blue-black bodies and bright, rust-colored wings (other species have black wings with blue highlights). The vivid coloration found on their bodies, and especially wings, is aposematic, advertising to potential predators the wasps' ability to deliver a powerful sting. Their long legs have hooked claws for grappling with their victims. The stinger of a female Pepsis grossa can be up to 12 mm (15⁄32 in) long, and the powerful sting is considered one of the most painful insect stings in the world. [1] [2]

Behavior

The female tarantula hawk wasp stings a tarantula between the legs, paralyzing it, and then drags the prey to a specially prepared burrow, where a single egg is laid on the spider's abdomen, and the burrow entrance is covered. [3] Sex of offspring is determined by fertilization; fertilized eggs produce females, while unfertilized eggs produce males. [3] When the wasp larva hatches, it creates a small hole in the spider's abdomen, then enters and feeds voraciously, avoiding vital organs for as long as possible to keep the spider alive. [3] After several weeks, the larva pupates. Finally, the wasp becomes an adult and emerges from the spider's abdomen to continue the life cycle.

Adult tarantula hawks are nectarivorous. While the wasps tend to be most active in the daytime in summer, they tend to avoid high temperatures. The male tarantula hawk does not hunt. Both males and females feed on the flowers of milkweeds, western soapberry trees, or mesquite trees. [4] Male tarantula hawks have been observed practicing a behavior called hill-topping, in which they sit atop tall plants and watch for passing females ready to reproduce. The males can become resident defenders of the favorable reproduction spots for hours into the afternoon. [5] Females are not very aggressive, in that they are hesitant to sting, but the sting is extraordinarily painful. [1]

Distribution

Worldwide distribution of tarantula hawks includes areas from India to Southeast Asia, Africa, [6] Australia, and the Americas, with the genus Pepsis entirely restricted to the New World. In the latter, Pepsis species have been observed from as far north as Logan, Utah and south as far as Argentina, with at least 250 species living in South America. [7] Eighteen species of Pepsis and three species of Hemipepsis are found in the United States, [8] primarily in the deserts of the southwestern United States, with Pepsis grossa (formerly Pepsis formosa) [9] and Pepsis thisbe being common.[ citation needed ] The two species are difficult to distinguish, but the majority of P. grossa have metallic blue bodies and reddish antennae, which separates them from P. thisbe. Both species have bright orange wings that become transparent near the tip.

Sting

Tarantula hawk wasps are relatively docile and rarely sting without provocation. However, the sting—particularly that of P. grossa—is among the most painful of all insects, though the intense pain only lasts about five minutes. [10] One researcher described the pain as "...immediate, excruciating, unrelenting pain that simply shuts down one's ability to do anything, except scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations." [7] In terms of scale, the wasp's sting is rated near the top of the Schmidt sting pain index, second only to that of the bullet ant, and is described by Schmidt as "blinding, fierce[, and] shockingly electric". [2] Because of their extremely large stingers, very few animals are able to eat them; one of the few that can is the roadrunner. Many predatory animals avoid these wasps, and many different insects mimic them, including various other wasps and bees (Müllerian mimics), as well as moths, flies (e.g., mydas flies), and beetles (e.g., Tragidion ) (Batesian mimics).

Aside from the possibility of triggering an allergic reaction, the sting is not dangerous and does not require medical attention. Local redness appears in most cases after the pain, and lasts for up to a week.

State insect of New Mexico

The U.S. state of New Mexico chose a species of tarantula hawk (specifically, P. formosa, now known as P. grossa ) in 1989 to become its official state insect. Its selection was prompted by a group of elementary school children from Edgewood doing research on states that had adopted state insects. They selected three insects as candidates and mailed ballots to all schools for a statewide election. The winner was the tarantula hawk wasp. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Velvet ant</span> Family of wasps

Velvet ants (Mutillidae) are a family of more than 7,000 species of wasps whose wingless females resemble large, hairy ants. Their common name velvet ant refers to their resemblance to an ant, and their dense pile of hair, which most often is bright scarlet or orange, but may also be black, white, silver, or gold. Their bright colors serve as aposematic signals. They are known for their extremely painful stings,, and has resulted in the common name "cow killer" or "cow ant" being applied to the species Dasymutilla occidentalis. However, mutillids are not aggressive and sting only in defense. In addition, the actual toxicity of their venom is much lower than that of honey bees or harvester ants. Unlike true ants, they are solitary, and lack complex social systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spider wasp</span> Family of wasps

Wasps in the family Pompilidae are commonly called spider wasps, spider-hunting wasps, or pompilid wasps. The family is cosmopolitan, with some 5,000 species in six subfamilies. Nearly all species are solitary, and most capture and paralyze prey, though members of the subfamily Ceropalinae are kleptoparasites of other pompilids, or ectoparasitoids of living spiders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schmidt sting pain index</span> Pain scale for insect stings

The Schmidt sting pain index is a pain scale rating the relative pain caused by different hymenopteran stings. It is mainly the work of Justin O. Schmidt, who was an entomologist at the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center in Arizona. Schmidt published a number of works on the subject and claimed to have been stung by the majority of stinging Hymenoptera.

<i>Pepsis</i> Genus of wasps

Pepsis is a genus of spider wasps belonging to the family Pompilidae. Species within this genus are also called tarantula hawks, as they usually hunt tarantulas, similarly to many species in the genus Hemipepsis. These wasps are restricted to the Americas, with the related genus Hemipepsis occurring in both Old and New Worlds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarantula</span> Family of spiders

Tarantulas comprise a group of large and often hairy spiders of the family Theraphosidae. As of December 2023, 1,100 species have been identified, with 166 genera. The term "tarantula" is usually used to describe members of the family Theraphosidae, although many other members of the same infraorder (Mygalomorphae) are commonly referred to as "tarantulas" or "false tarantulas". Some of the more common species have become popular in the exotic pet trade. Many New World species kept as pets have setae known as urticating hairs that can cause irritation to the skin, and in extreme cases, cause damage to the eyes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wasp</span> Group of insects

A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as bees and ants are deeply nested within the wasps, having evolved from wasp ancestors. Wasps that are members of the clade Aculeata can sting their prey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas brown tarantula</span> Species of spider

The Texas brown tarantula, Aphonopelma hentzi, also known as the Oklahoma brown tarantula or Missouri tarantula, is one of the most common species of tarantula living in the Southern United States today. Texas brown tarantulas can grow to leg spans in excess of 10 cm (4 in), and weigh more than 85 g (3 oz) as adults. Their bodies are dark brown, though shades may vary between individual tarantulas. The colors are more distinct after a molt, as with many arthropods.

<i>Dasymutilla occidentalis</i> Species of wasp

Dasymutilla occidentalis is a species of parasitoid wasp that ranges from Connecticut to Kansas in the north and Florida to Texas in the south. Adults are mostly seen in the summer months.

<i>Aporus unicolor</i> Species of wasp

Aporus unicolor, common name cutpurse, is a highly specialised spider hunting wasp from the family Pompilidae.

<i>Epipompilus insularis</i> Species of wasp

Epipompilus insularis is a species of spider wasp which is endemic to New Zealand and it is the only species of the genus Epipompilus found in New Zealand.

<i>Sphictostethus nitidus</i> Species of wasp

Sphictostethus nitidus, the golden hunter wasp or red spider wasp, is a species of pepsid spider wasp endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Hemipepsis ustulata</i> Species of wasp

Hemipepsis ustulata is a species of tarantula hawk wasp native to the Southwestern United States. Tarantula hawks are a large, conspicuous family of long-legged wasps that prey on tarantulas by using their long legs to grapple with their prey and then paralyze them with a powerful sting. They are solitary, displaying lekking territorial behavior in their mating rituals.

<i>Poecilopompilus algidus</i> Species of wasp

Poecilopompilus algidus is a species of spider wasp which is widespread in the Americas.

<i>Hemipepsis tamisieri</i> Species of spider wasp

Hemipepsis tamisieri is a species of afrotropical pepsid spider wasp, one of the so-called tarantula hawks because its preferred prey are tarantulas of the family Theraphosidae.

<i>Pepsis grossa</i> Species of wasp

Pepsis grossa is a very large species of pepsine spider wasp from the southern part of North America, south to northern South America. It preys on tarantula spiders, giving rise to the name tarantula hawk for the wasps in the genus Pepsis and the related Hemipepsis. Only the females hunt, so only they are capable of delivering a sting, which is considered the second most painful of any insect sting; scoring 4.0 on the Schmidt sting pain index compared to the bullet ant's 4.0+. It is the state insect of New Mexico. The colour morphs are the xanthic orange-winged form and the melanic black winged form. In northern South America, a third form, known as "lygamorphic", has a dark base to the wings which have dark amber median patches and a pale tip.

<i>Climaciella brunnea</i> Species of insect

Climaciella brunnea, known sometimes by the common names wasp mantidfly, western mantidfly, and brown mantidfly, is a predatory neuropteran insect in the family Mantispidae.

<i>Pison spinolae</i> Species of insect

Pison spinolae, commonly known as mason wasp, is a solitary wasp of the family Crabronidae, native to Australia and found throughout New Zealand where it is an introduced species.

<i>Allochares azureus</i> Species of wasp

Allochares azureus is a species of spider wasp from the family Pompilidae, it is the only member of the monotypic genus Allochares. It occurs in the southern part of North America and is a specialist parasitoid of the Southern house spider.

<i>Pepsis thisbe</i> Species of wasp

Pepsis thisbe, also known as Thisbe's tarantula-hawk wasp, is a species of spider wasp in the family Pompilidae. Females are 32-44 mm long with a dark blue body and orange wings.

<i>Pepsis mildei</i> Western Hemisphere tarantula-hawk wasp

Pepsis mildei, also known as Milde's tarantula-hawk wasp, is a species of predatory spider wasp native to the Western Hemisphere. These wasps capture live tarantulas to feed to their larva; the adults graze on flowers. Tarantula hawks generally have no meaningful predators. The wing color is black and/or orange, with rare leucistic wing coloration known in males. The wings of P. mildei are duller overall than those of Pepsis grossa or Pepsis cinnabarina. Per Edward Essig, Milde's tarantula-hawk wasp usually measures 20–30 millimeters in length and is a metallic blue-black overall, with "the antennae reddish, dusky at extreme base in the male and the basal third dusky in the female; the wings fiery red with the bases and apices dusky". In all tarantula wasps, the antennae can be used to distinguish between males and female: males are straight or gently arced, while the females have curved antennae. The lifespan of males is one to two months, while female Milde's tarantula-hawk wasps live for a longer span of time.

References

  1. 1 2 Starr, C.K. (1985). "A simple pain scale for field comparison of Hymenopteran stings" (PDF). Journal of Entomological Science. 20 (2): 225–231. doi:10.18474/0749-8004-20.2.225.
  2. 1 2 Schmidt, Justin O.; Blum, Murray S.; Overal, William L. (1983). "Hemolytic activities of stinging insect venoms". Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology. 1 (2): 155–160. doi:10.1002/arch.940010205.
  3. 1 2 3 "The wasp that kills tarantulas". BBC Earth. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  4. ↑ Phillips, Steven J.; Comus, Patricia Wentworth, eds. (2000). A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert . University of California Press. pp.  464–466. ISBN   0-520-21980-5.
  5. ↑ Alcock J (2017). "A long-term study of male territoriality in the tarantula hawk wasp (Hemipepsis ustulata; Pompilidae) in Central Arizona". The Southwestern Naturalist. 62 (2): 109–112. doi:10.1894/0038-4909-62.2.109. S2CID   90778145.
  6. ↑ GBIF
  7. 1 2 "Tarantula Hawks" . Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  8. ↑ "Bug Guide - Pepsis - Tarantula Hawks" . Retrieved 2016-05-05.
  9. ↑ Vardy, C.R. (2002). "The New World tarantula-hawk wasp genus Pepsis Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae). Part 2. The P. grossa- to P. deaurata-groups."
  10. ↑ Conniff, Richard (2009-08-10). "Oh, Sting, Where Is Thy Death?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-09-14. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  11. ↑ NM Legislature visitors guide (PDF). New Mexico Legislature. p. 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-11-21.
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