TARANTULA HAWK (wasp)

   

After a little research I found out the name of this little beauty.  It is the tarantula hawk.  I was correct to be wary of it, the bright orange wings are aposematic coloration which is nature's warning system to alert potential predators that it is dangerous.  In fact, it is so dangerous that it is reputed to having the most painful insect sting in the United States and Mexico!  So why is it called the tarantula hawk?  The females will actually sting a tarantula to paralyze it, drag it into a burrow, lay a single egg in or on the spider, then seal the burrow.  The egg hatches in a couple of days and the larva will feed on the paralyzed but live tarantula until it is ready to pupate and transform into a wasp (about 30 days later).  The spider is usual dead by that time.  Fortunatly for me, these wasps are not aggressive and were only interested in feeding on the flower nectar while I was taking these pictures.  That first shot doesn't do the wasp justice.  Its body was a jet black that shone midnight blue in the sunlight. Needless to say these will probably be the last shots I ever take of the tarantula hawk!