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Photo#330532
Tarantula Hawk? - Pepsis - female

Tarantula Hawk? - Pepsis - Female
East Mesa area, Maricopa County, Arizona, USA
September 2, 2009
Size: 5-6 cm
This was found on the floor of a school bus - terrorizing children. When in the sun, it would get quite active and walk around and try to fly. In the shade it would move much slower, and taken indoors would barely move. It seemed injured, as when it tried to fly, it would simply fall to the ground. It did not appear to have a stinger (I'm new at this, do some not have stingers?) The mouth parts looked fearsome, and it had a yellowish 'tongue' that it would clean its forelimbs with. The color was a stunning green/blue iridescent in direct sun, and seemed black in the shade.
It was quite docile, and I later carried it around on my hand for most of the morning. Kids were fascinated by it, and would carefully touch the wings. (I noticed that the older the children were, the more afraid they were - many adults would not even get near me). After a morning of show and tell with K through 6th grade, we let it go; though I fear it probably did not survive.

Images of this individual: tag all
Tarantula Hawk? - Pepsis - female Tarantula Hawk? - Pepsis Tarantula Hawk? - Pepsis Tarantula Hawk? - Pepsis

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Yes.
Either Pepsis grossa or Pepsis mexicana. The latter is rather small for a tarantula hawk, the former truly is intimidating.

 
Sounds good!
Well, to my eyes, it was huge. I found it intimidating, at first. Not very scientific, I know.

Good for you!
Most people feel threatened by wasps, but they're generally not a problem unless you're disturbing their nest. (Exception: Yellowjackets aren't to be messed with.) Glad you gave the kids a nice introduction to this beautiful creature!

 
Thanks!
This one was very well behaved. And it was very beautiful. As I said, it did not appear to have a stinger, so I felt emboldened to hold it. Of course, I'm assuming the stinger is visible and not hidden in the tail end. If it did have a stinger, and I didn't know it... well I'd feel stupid. :)

 
The female is the one with the stinger,
the male doesn't have one. But - the female retracts it into the abdomen when it's not in use, and I think this one is a female. the sting paralyses a Tarantula and is VERY painful to humans. But as you noticed, they are not among the aggressive wasp species.

 
Oh great...
Retractable, you say?
Well, I didn't get stung, so that's a good thing. Would've served me right if I did.

Hmmm.... I wonder if that would qualify under workers comp... :)

 
Definitely a she
Great find -- worth the risk holding it too! As long as you don't grab them or hold them down, most solitary wasps will rarely sting deliberately.

 
Agreed
I did enjoy it. Lot of fun.

Strange how people can become attached to creatures of all sizes. Kind of miss the little guy/girl/whatever.

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