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Tarantula Hawk Wasp — printable fact sheet
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Tarantula Hawk Wasp
Pepsis grossa
Tarantula hawks (genera Pepsis and Hemipepsis) are large spider wasps whose sting is rated 4 out of 4 on the Schmidt pain index, one of only a handful of insects to earn the top score. Justin Schmidt described it as "blinding, fierce, shockingly electric", and his standing advic…
Did you know?
- The sting of a Tarantula Hawk Wasp is so intense that it can incapacitate large predators, yet it lasts only about five minutes.
- Its sting is one of the most painful of any insect, but it lasts only a few minutes and does almost no damage, since the point is terror rather than harm. The larva eats its paralysed tarantula alive over several weeks, consuming the vital organs last so the spider stays fresh. Adults feed on nectar and fermenting fruit and can become visibly drunk, staggering on the ground. It is the state insect of New Mexico, a fact that surprises most New Mexicans.
What I learned
Draw the tarantula hawk wasp
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