Tarantula hawk facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tarantula hawk |
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Pompilidae
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The Tarantula hawk is a large type of wasp. It is known for hunting tarantulas. These spiders become food for the wasp's young, called larvae. Tarantula hawks belong to two main groups, Pepsis and Hemipepsis. They are all part of the Pompilidae family, also known as spider wasps.
What They Look Like
Most Tarantula hawks are about 5 centimeters (2 inches) long. This makes them one of the biggest wasps around. They usually have a shiny blue-black body. Their wings are often bright reddish-orange. Some have black wings instead. The bright colors on their wings are a warning. They tell other animals that the wasp is dangerous. This is called warning coloration.
Tarantula hawks have long legs. These legs have hooked claws. They use these claws to grab and hold onto their prey. A female Tarantula hawk can have a stinger up to 7 millimeters long. This stinger is very powerful.
How They Live and Hunt
When a female Tarantula hawk finds a tarantula, she stings it. The sting makes the tarantula unable to move. It becomes paralyzed. The wasp then drags the tarantula to her burrow. Sometimes she takes it to a special nest she built.
Once the tarantula is in the nest, the female wasp lays a single egg on its belly. When the egg hatches, a tiny larva comes out. This larva makes a small hole in the tarantula's body. It then crawls inside. The larva eats the tarantula from the inside. After a few weeks, the larva changes into a pupa. This is like a resting stage. Later, the wasp becomes an adult. It then comes out of the tarantula's body.
Adult Tarantula hawks also eat nectar. Nectar is a sweet liquid found in flowers. This means they are nectarivores. Male Tarantula hawks do not hunt tarantulas. They only eat nectar from flowers. They like flowers from plants like milkweeds, western soapberry trees, or mesquite trees. Females also enjoy these flowers.
Where They Live
Tarantula hawks live in many parts of the world. You can find them in India, southeast Asia, Africa, and Australia. They also live across the Americas. In the Americas, they are found as far north as Salt Lake City, Utah in the U.S.A. They live as far south as Argentina in South America. There are about 250 different kinds of Tarantula hawks in South America. Many other types live in the deserts of the southwestern U.S.A.
Their Sting
The sting of a Tarantula hawk is known to be very painful. Many people say it is one of the most painful insect stings in the world. But the good news is that the pain usually lasts for only a few minutes. Not many people have been stung by one. Those who have say the pain is so strong they can only scream.
Because of their powerful sting, most animals avoid Tarantula hawks. One animal that can eat them is the roadrunner. Many other insects try to look like Tarantula hawks. This helps them stay safe from predators. Many kinds of wasps, bees, flies, moths, and beetles copy the look of the Tarantula hawk.
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