| Spiders are normally thought of by humans as | | | | are usually seen walking on barren ground or |
| scary beasts that serve no other purpose than | | | | in tangled undergrowth searching for prey. As |
| to frighten the living daylights out of us. | | | | they walk, their wings flicker and their |
| Well, ok, they control the fly and insect | | | | antennae tap the ground. They often break |
| population as well I suppose, but mostly they | | | | their restless walking with short flights. |
| are just not much fun to discover around the | | | | |
| home or office. | | | | A spider wasp quickly subdues the spider it |
| | | | preys on. The wasp's sting affects the |
| But have you ever asked yourself, what are | | | | spider's central nervous system, paralyzing |
| spiders themselves scared of? | | | | but not killing the spider. Often the spider |
| | | | is too large to carry in flight and the wasp |
| Well, I've got a few answers for you... | | | | must drag it to the nest. Some species bite |
| | | | off the spider's legs to make it easier to |
| Because they are small, spiders have many | | | | drag and may drink blood that leaks from the |
| enemies. | | | | wounds. |
| | | | |
| Many of the larger animals hunt them for | | | | The spider wasp places a single spider in |
| food. Common examples being birds, toads & | | | | each nest, which is often constructed after |
| lizards. It is also true that monkeys will | | | | catching the prey. Some species specialize on |
| hunt and eat them too. And they are also used | | | | trap-door spiders and tarantulas, using the |
| as food by many of the smaller creatures in | | | | spider's own burrow for a nest. The wasp lays |
| the world. | | | | an egg on the paralyzed spider, which is |
| | | | eventually eaten by the wasp's larva. |
| Ticks will attach themselves to a spider and | | | | |
| eat away at it for a long time while the | | | | The tarantula hawk is a large, metallic |
| spider goes about its business. | | | | blue-black spider wasp, with violet or bright |
| | | | reddish-orange wings. Tarantula hawks are |
| But one of the spiders' worst enemies is the | | | | often seen foraging for nectar on milkweed |
| Spider Wasp. They will ruthlessly and very | | | | flowers. These wasps enter a tarantula's |
| effectively hunt down spiders and use them to | | | | burrow and may risk death in a fierce battle. |
| feed their young larvae. | | | | The wasp usually wins even though the |
| | | | tarantula has poisonous fangs and is much |
| Spider wasps are found throughout most of the | | | | larger than the wasp. |
| world. There are about 290 species in the | | | | |
| United States and Canada and around 4200 | | | | And let's not forget another most deadly of |
| worldwide. Most spider wasps are black, | | | | spider predators... |
| metallic blue, or reddish and measure from 1 | | | | |
| to 5 cm (0.4 to 2.0 in) long. | | | | You and I. Yes we humans are also big enemies |
| | | | of spiders. Besides stepping on them |
| The wings range from clear to smoky-gray or | | | | whenever we get the opportunity, the |
| bright red-orange in color. Their | | | | pesticides we use to control other insects |
| extraordinarily long hind legs distinguish | | | | will usually kill spiders too. |
| spider wasps from other wasps. Spider wasps | | | | |