Wasp - Pepsis - BugGuide.Net

i found it

i looked it up and decidd that it is a tarantula hawk check it out on wikipedia

… colodavis, 20 September, 2007 - 2:36pm

The little lady

I had one dragging a small tarantula across the street at my house in central california one day. She caused quite a ruckus.

… Mellisa Fernandez, 20 September, 2007 - 5:57pm

the dimensions of the wasp i

the dimensions of the wasp i saw was 2-3 inches long its belly was approx 1 inch from the ground. it landed on my shoulder and didn't sting me. now i am curious

… colodavis, 19 September, 2007 - 8:25am

i have seen a wasp like this

i have seen a wasp like this one in colorado and i was wondering if any of you know if it was the same kind?

… colodavis, 19 September, 2007 - 8:23am

Moved

Moved from Spider Wasps.

… Eric R. Eaton, 22 November, 2006 - 1:46pm

Moved

Moved from Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies.

… john and jane balaban, 29 September, 2006 - 8:27pm

Tarantula Hawk

I'm no expert, but that looks like a wasp in the Family Pompilidae, either Pepsis or Hemipepsis. The females sting tarantulas to paralyze them, then lay eggs in them so the larvae can feed on them.

They generally won't sting unless in fear for their lives, but the sting is reputed to be one of the most painful of all the wasps.

It's great to see someone contributing from the inland part of California- so far it seems like all the rest of us have been from the coastal areas. Welcome!

… Chuck Entz, 5 September, 2006 - 7:44am

I not gonna complain about that ID...

getting it to species from a photo is the hard part (almost impossible, actually). The two species of Hemipepsis that I have seen from California lack the strong bluish sheen (i.e. are mat black) and one species has orange antennae.

… Nick Fensler, 5 September, 2006 - 4:28pm

Wasp

We have a home on the coast also so some of my pictures will be from here. We did watch a female drag a small tarantula up the street one evening when we lived in Paso Robles. She struggled with it for at least an hour before flying off. I think the crowd of humans may have scared her. She came back looking for it and may have eventually found it. I was fascinated. My husband took some pictures but I'm not sure where they ended up.
I was educating the people who stopped to watch. Telling them that she was going to be using the tarantula as food for her young. They had no idea wasps did that.

… Mellisa Fernandez, 5 September, 2006 - 1:00pm