Spider wasps

[DreadMan]

A couple of questions about spider wasps just because the internet wont answer them:
1: Do spiders EVER win against the wasps. I really cant bring myself to see a Brazilian wandering spider or woodlouse eater getting easily beaten by a tiny wasp. Heck I have a hard time seeing jumping spiders getting beaten by them. If anyone would be willing to show any videos I would be happy. (yes i get this is a dumb question i just wanna see a spider beat the crap out of a wasp for once in my life)
2: Do the spiders feel pain? I honestly have never liked wasps but knowing that they evolved to slowly torture spiders (and other inverts) for their babies would REALLY make me hate them. (yes i know its not their fault, but still)
3: Can you keep spider wasps? I honestly think keeping a pretty wasp like a blue mud dauber or pepsis would be really nice (not to mention that they are active during the day)





this list was shorter than expected.

 

[Arthroverts]

It's nature, so there are never assured outcomes. It is not a guarantee that wasps always paralyze the spider, it's just what happens arguably 99% of the time.
Spiders do defeat wasps at times; in Namibia there is a spider (Carparachne aureoflava) that curls into a ball and rolls down dunes faster than the wasp can follow, thus escaping. I believe I have heard of tarantulas occasionally biting and killing uncautious wasps, and once in South Africa a tarantula paralyzed by a wasp managed to revive and escape.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Nicole C G]

A couple of questions about spider wasps just because the internet wont answer them:
1: Do spiders EVER win against the wasps. I really cant bring myself to see a Brazilian wandering spider or woodlouse eater getting easily beaten by a tiny wasp. Heck I have a hard time seeing jumping spiders getting beaten by them. If anyone would be willing to show any videos I would be happy. (yes i get this is a dumb question i just wanna see a spider beat the crap out of a wasp for once in my life)
2: Do the spiders feel pain? I honestly have never liked wasps but knowing that they evolved to slowly torture spiders (and other inverts) for their babies would REALLY make me hate them. (yes i know its not their fault, but still)
3: Can you keep spider wasps? I honestly think keeping a pretty wasp like a blue mud dauber or pepsis would be really nice (not to mention that they are active during the day)





this list was shorter than expected.

There are Tarantula Hawks, which are super large spider wasps that take out large spiders. But can a spider win against a wasp? Yes! Jumping spiders can kill wasps like in this video:

Would a cobweb spider win against a wasp? Probably not.

 

[chanda]

Yes, spider wasps can be kept as pets - at least temporarily, though their adult lives aren't terribly long. I've kept tarantula hawks for a few weeks at a time in the classroom (to show my students) before releasing them - and I kept one for several months (until she died) because her wings were damaged and she could not fly. They'll feed on fruit juice from sliced grapes or oranges. Here's video of the one tarantula hawks eating out of my hand:

 

[DreadMan]

Yes, spider wasps can be kept as pets - at least temporarily, though their adult lives aren't terribly long. I've kept tarantula hawks for a few weeks at a time in the classroom (to show my students) before releasing them - and I kept one for several months (until she died) because her wings were damaged and she could not fly. They'll feed on fruit juice from sliced grapes or oranges. Here's video of the one tarantula hawks eating out of my hand:

that guy is really cute




the wasp is nice too

 

[viper69]

Everything is food for something

 

[Ungoliant]

There are Tarantula Hawks, which are super large spider wasps that take out large spiders. But can a spider win against a wasp? Yes! Jumping spiders can kill wasps like in this video:

Would a cobweb spider win against a wasp? Probably not.

That is one bold jumper!

 

[The Snark]

That is one bold jumper!

A bold Bold jumper?

 

[schmiggle]

When I have some time later, I'll see if anyone's published a success rate for spider wasps. Most predators actually have a relatively low success rate--great whites have something like 50%, for example, and I think lions are closer to 40% (though dragonflies are up at like 90%). I wouldn't be that shocked if they often have to make an attempt or two before they're successful.

 

[Thearachnidaddict]

Unfortunately I do not live near any pepsis species but if I did I would definitely attempt it.

 

[schmiggle]

Well, at least in one instance predatory wasps have a very low success rate:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Linda-Rayor/publication/289222802_Attack_strategies_of_predatory_wasps_Hymenoptera_Pompilidae_Sphecidae_on_colonial_orb_web-building_spiders_Araneidae_Metepeira_incrassata/links/5c8a9344299bf14e7e7c8c7d/Attack-strategies-of-predatory-wasps-Hymenoptera-Pompilidae-Sphecidae-on-colonial-orb-web-building-spiders-Araneidae-Metepeira-incrassata.pdf

The most successful species in this paper has a 44% success rate per attack, but most were less than 10%. The authors point out that one of the other species may just be more selective about prey size when they're deciding which spiders to be persistent against, but even so a 6% baseline success rate is pretty low.