What Are Spider Wasps?

WHAT ARE SPIDER WASPS?

Spider wasps belong to the family of Pompilidae and around 5000 species of spider wasps are found in 6 subfamilies. All species of spider wasps are solitary and most of them capture and paralyze prey by using their stingers. Once the venom becomes effective the wasp will drag the prey away from their web. They are called spider wasp because they attack spiders as a part of their life cycle. They don’t live in nest like other wasps, they dig their own burrow in the dirt or sand with their front legs.
Spider wasps are large with black, blue or reddish color body and they have bright colored wings. When they are attacked by human beings they sting which is very painful. They are generally seen walking on the ground on search of spiders. This type of wasps uses carcasses of their prey to lay their eggs. The remains of the spider are fed by wasp larvae.

The Black Spider Wasp on Tree Stem

Sometimes the female spider wasp lays only one egg with in the spider. Large black and orange spider’s wasps are very common in Australian backyards during summer season. They are mostly found in Australia, Tasmania and suburban garden. They live in urban areas, forests, woodland, wetland and heath. Female spider wasps are not aggressive towards people but they have powerful sting and sometimes they look dangerous. Tarantula hawk is a spider wasp that hunts tarantulas as food for their larvae. They have long blue -black body with bright rust colored wings.

Life cycle
The life cycle of spider wasps starts by preparing nest by female wasp for their larvae. Spider wasp dig burrows with their front legs around tree trunks and on the ground for the spiders and after finding a spider it stings the prey and paralyze it. It drags the prey back to the burrow and then she lays egg on the spider’s body before pupating a thin silky cocoon in the cell.

There are some spider wasps that don’t dig burrow to lay egg on it. The dead spider is left back and the larvae hatches and eats the spider. There are some spider wasps that steal spiders from other wasps for their larvae. Spider wasps are not aggressive and don’t form colonies to defend nests. They basically hold their wings up when they are resting and they also have a habit of flicking their wings on moving with a jumping motion.

Mating, hunting and nest building
Male spider wasps are smaller than female and they sit on tall points like vegetation and they watch the newly hatched female to mate. The male spider wasp will mate and inseminate the female wasp and after that the pregnant wasp will start making nest immediately. She digs a burrow with her front leg and the burrow will be large enough to accommodate the prey. Most of the spider wasp attack spiders which are bigger like tarantula and drag them to the hole. The female wasp can easily flip a large tarantula on its back.