These crazy, large critters are everywhere out here in the desert. They fly around looking like evil fairies, but they are in fact, The Tarantula Wasp.
The Tarantula wasp's body measures around 2 inches, but it's legs and antennae are long, as well as its wings. It has a blue-black body with orange wings. They are most active in the summers (like now), and during the day time. The females give them their name, as they need a spider to host their larvae, and in their case, a tarantula is preferred.
The female wasp finds a tarantula by smell. She scampers across the land until she finds a burrow. She enters and expels the spider, then attacks it. She will probe the spider with her antennas, and when the spider lifts its front legs and shows its fangs, she will sting. She might grab one of the spiders legs and flip it over on its back and sting its belly, or approach form the side. Once stung, the tarantula will be paralyzed within seconds for the remainder of its life. The wasp will drink the fluid coming form the wound to replenish her strength from the encounter. She will then drag it back to her own burrow and lay a single egg on the spiders belly, then seal the chamber.
Once the egg hatches, the tiny grub begins to suck and feed on the spiders remains. It continues sucking until it finally rips itself from the spiders body.
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