Spider Wasp

Family Pompilidae — the spider wasps — contains about 5,000 species worldwide. All are solitary hunters of spiders: the female searches actively for a host spider, engages in combat (often with prey 5x her own body weight), paralyzes the spider with a sting that targets specific neuromuscular ganglia (the spider remains alive but unable to move for the rest of her life), drags the host to a burrow or repurposed nesting cavity, lays a single egg on the spider's abdomen, and seals the chamber. The wasp larva hatches and eats the still-living spider over 2-4 weeks, consuming non-essential tissues first and saving vital organs for last so that the prey remains fresh until the larva is ready to pupate. Pepsis grossa — the genus 'tarantula hawk' that gives the common name to the more famous Pepsis spp. and Hemipepsis spp. — hunts tarantulas in deserts and grasslands across the southwestern US, Mexico, and Central America. Adults are 5 cm long with metallic blue-black bodies and bright orange wings, and their sting is rated 4.0 (the maximum) on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index — Justin Schmidt's own description: 'instantaneous, blinding, fierce, shockingly electric.' Schmidt and others recommend that anyone stung simply lie down and scream until the pain (which is intense for about 3 minutes and then fades) subsides — fighting the sensation can cause injury. The wasp is the official state insect of New Mexico (designated 1989).