In the latter, Pepsis species have been observed from as far north as Logan, Utah and south as far as Argentina, with at least 250 species living in South America. Worldwide distribution of tarantula hawks includes areas from India to Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, and the Americas, with the genus Pepsis entirely restricted to the New World. Females are not very aggressive, in that they are hesitant to sting, but the sting is extraordinarily painful. The males can become resident defenders of the favorable reproduction spots for hours into the afternoon. Male tarantula hawks have been observed practicing a behavior called hill-topping, in which they sit atop tall plants and watch for passing females ready to reproduce. Both males and females feed on the flowers of milkweeds, western soapberry trees, or mesquite trees. While the wasps tend to be most active in the daytime in summer, they tend to avoid high temperatures. Finally, the wasp becomes an adult and emerges from the spider's abdomen to continue the life cycle.Īdult tarantula hawks are nectarivorous. When the wasp larva hatches, it creates a small hole in the spider's abdomen, then enters and feeds voraciously, avoiding vital organs for as long as possible to keep the spider alive. Sex of offspring is determined by fertilization fertilized eggs produce females, while unfertilized eggs produce males. The female tarantula hawk wasp stings a tarantula between the legs, paralyzes it, then drags the prey to a specially prepared burrow, where a single egg is laid on the spider's abdomen, and the burrow entrance is covered. The stinger of a female Pepsis grossa can be up to 12 mm ( 15⁄ 32 in) long, and the powerful sting is considered one of the most painful insect stings in the world. Their long legs have hooked claws for grappling with their victims. The vivid coloration found on their bodies, and especially wings, is an aposematism, advertising to potential predators the wasps' ability to deliver a powerful sting. These wasps grow up to 6.5 centimetres ( 2 + 1⁄ 2 in) long, making them among the largest of wasps, and have blue-black bodies and bright, rust-colored wings (other species have black wings with blue highlights). They are found on all continents other than Antarctica. They are one of the largest parasitoid wasps, using their sting to paralyze their prey before dragging it to a brood nest as living food a single egg is laid on the prey, hatching to a larva which eats the still-living host. Tarantula hawks belong to any of the many species in the genera Pepsis and Hemipepsis. A tarantula hawk is a spider wasp (Pompilidae) that preys on tarantulas.
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