# Spider ever win?



## jbm150 (Jun 8, 2009)

This could go into any category: tarantulas, spiders, or insects but I'll put it here first.  Here's a question I've long wondered: do tarantulas/spiders ever kill or at least fight off pepsis wasps?  Or any of the spider hunting wasps?  I've never heard of the spider winning, its always the wasp that is the victor.  I'm sure its happened but has anyone ever heard of or witnessed it?


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## pandinus (Jun 8, 2009)

i watched a documentary where the wasp made a mistake and got mortaly wounded and wandered off, so im sure it does happen. even though the wasp is the hunter, it is still in a lot of danger when it strikes, and it could just as easily become food as it could the victor.




John


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## bhoeschcod (Jun 8, 2009)

Sweet.i like wasps.


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## jbm150 (Jun 8, 2009)

I respect the wasps for being such amazing predators but I'd love to see a pic of an aphonopelma munching on a tarantula hawk.  It amazes me to see active, speedy spiders, like wolves or wandering spiders, consistently fall prey to 'em


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## Draiman (Jun 9, 2009)

I've always wondered the same thing. With such large and powerful chelicerae, and considering the speed at which tarantulas are capable of striking, surely there have been cases of the spider eating, or at least killing, the wasp instead. Someone really should go out there and document it.


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## cacoseraph (Jun 9, 2009)

the way i read this situation is that their is MUCH higher evolutionary pressure on the wasps to be good hunters than the spiders to be good defenders


a wasp MUST take a spider to procreate...  but as long as there are not more wasps than spiders, a spider need not be 100% successful defending to have the species continue


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## jbm150 (Jun 9, 2009)

Well, I guess this answers that question.  Pandinus, this is probably the video you're refering to:
http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p63/Royal_Panthera/?action=view&current=GiantTarantulavs.flv


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## xhexdx (Jun 9, 2009)

I know this is a little bit OT, but when I was younger I actually watched a wasp (not a pepsis, some other sp.) *intentionally* fly into an orb web.  The spider came down to wrap it, and the wasp stung the spider, grabbed it, and flew off with it.


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## jbm150 (Jun 9, 2009)

I think mud daubers are species that specialize in orb weavers.  I watched one try to figure out how to catch a tropical tent spider _Cyrtophora citricola_ but gave up.  Its web was just too haphazard, apparently.  The tent spider is a non-native from africa that has been found here in South Florida.  Was pretty cool


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