These large, impressive wasps were all over the milkweed, too. The adult wasps feed on the nectar. They also hunt for tarantulas, which they paralyze, place in a burrow, and lay a single egg on it. The baby wasp then feeds on the spider.
This wasp was not in the milkweed patch, but somewhere else along our journey. (I forget where.)
With such an abundance of tarantula wasps around, one might presume that there are also taranatulas in the same area.
Leave it to poor, arachnophobic Jerry to prove that assumption correct! I talked him into taking a little walk on the same trail behind our motel, just at dusk, just to see if we could find a tarantula. This guy was just emerging from a little drainage gully, and Jerry spotted it for me. He also would not let me get too close to it.
Leave it to poor, arachnophobic Jerry to prove that assumption correct! I talked him into taking a little walk on the same trail behind our motel, just at dusk, just to see if we could find a tarantula. This guy was just emerging from a little drainage gully, and Jerry spotted it for me. He also would not let me get too close to it.
