Beware the evil spider hunting wasps!

[Cororon]

There seems to be lots of Spider Hunting Wasps this summer, at least in Sweden and the UK.

"A female wasp searches the ground and/or vegetation for a spider, and upon finding one, stings it, paralyzing the spider. The targeted spider typically isn't able to kill the wasp, because the wasp can just fly out of reach, so at best the spider fights fiercely to escape"

"Once the spider is paralyzed, a female pompilid makes a burrow or flies or drags the spider to a previously made burrow." "Pompilids typically provide each of their larvae with a single prey/host, which must be large enough to serve as its food source throughout its development."

"The egg hatches and the larva feeds on the spider, breaking through the integument with its mandibles. As the larva feeds on its host, it saves the vital organs, such as the heart and central nervous system, for last. By waiting until the final larval instar, it ensures the spider will not decompose before the larva has fully developed."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_wasp

They look innocent but are evil as #¤%!!

I have had a few coming inside through an open window. I caught one today and it tried to sting me, but the stinger was too tiny. Then I threw it on my female Steatoda's web, and she took care of it. I got curious and and started googling to identify the half-ant half-wasp critter and got a bit of a shock.

Keep your spoods safe!

 

[Patherophis]

There seems to be lots of Spider Hunting Wasps this summer, at least in Sweden and the UK.

"A female wasp searches the ground and/or vegetation for a spider, and upon finding one, stings it, paralyzing the spider. The targeted spider typically isn't able to kill the wasp, because the wasp can just fly out of reach, so at best the spider fights fiercely to escape"

"Once the spider is paralyzed, a female pompilid makes a burrow or flies or drags the spider to a previously made burrow." "Pompilids typically provide each of their larvae with a single prey/host, which must be large enough to serve as its food source throughout its development."

"The egg hatches and the larva feeds on the spider, breaking through the integument with its mandibles. As the larva feeds on its host, it saves the vital organs, such as the heart and central nervous system, for last. By waiting until the final larval instar, it ensures the spider will not decompose before the larva has fully developed."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_wasp

They look innocent but are evil as #¤%!!

I have had a few coming inside through an open window. I caught one today and it tried to sting me, but the stinger was too tiny. Then I threw it on my female Steatoda's web, and she took care of it. I got curious and and started googling to identify the half-ant half-wasp critter and got a bit of a shock.

Keep your spoods safe!

Calm down. I like spiders but I like these wasps too. They are beautifull and interesting part of nature. Especially ones hunting big lycosids or even theraphosids are impressive. And if You think that pompilids are bad, You will have nightmares about genus Sceliphron.

(btw dont You by chance have photos of wasps You saw ? there are groups looking fairly similar to pompilids)

 

[Cororon]

Calm down. I like spiders but I like these wasps too. They are beautifull and interesting part of nature. Especially ones hunting big lycosids or even theraphosids are impressive. And if You think that pompilids are bad, You will have nightmares about genus Sceliphron.

(btw dont You by chance have photos of wasps You saw ? there are groups looking fairly similar to pompilids)

I am calm! WHAAAAA!!!

It's late in the evening so I won't look up the nightmare-inducing critters. Maybe tomorrow.

Yeah, I have one pic. Hopefully it's a case of mistaken identity. Little Neighbour finds it yummy, though. She's still nibbling on it.

 

[Gogyeng]

Calm down. I like spiders but I like these wasps too. They are beautifull and interesting part of nature. Especially ones hunting big lycosids or even theraphosids are impressive. And if You think that pompilids are bad, You will have nightmares about genus Sceliphron.
---
Oh yes, Sceliphron wasps build mud nests with eggs that require spider baits: many. Like everything, they are controlled themselves by other variables, like presence of cuckoo wasps (emerald wasps of the family Chrysididae) which parasite their nests in return =,)

 

[chanda]

They're not evil - they just do what it is in their nature to do. A mother wasp paralyzing a spider for her young is no worse than a spider (or scorpion or centipede or even a wolf or falcon) killing and eating another living creature. A wasp larva eats a spider. A spider eats a fly - or a butterfly or even a wasp. Values and morality don't enter into it. Some animals are predators. Some are parasitoids. Some are prey or hosts. And many of them fulfill multiple roles at different times, with the predator eventually becoming prey or becoming host to another creature's young.

While I am quite fond of my pet spiders (and keep them safe in their enclosures, away from wasps) I do not begrudge the wasps those wild spiders that they find - and the wasps themselves are quite beautiful as well. See, for example, this lovely lady I was fortunate enough to keep as a pet for a while:

 

[MintyWood826]

I have so many wasps coming to my garden I've probably seen a parasitoid wasp and not known it, which is kinda weird to think.

But I don't think it's evil for one animal to eat another, because it's just how they're designed to say alive.

 

[Cororon]

I know, I know. It's instinct and these animals don't have a human range of emotions, but being paralyzed and slowly eaten alive is a horrible way to end one's life. And it's nothing wrong with protecting one's pets. An eagle needs to eat, but I'd want it to leave my puppy alone (if I had one).

I used to be terrified of common wasps, but since I got over my arachnophobia I'm not that scared of wasps anymore. I catch and release them. This one I picked up with my fingers.

Little Neighbour is still eating.

 

[The Snark]

slowly eaten alive is a horrible way to end one's life.

Cancer? Arteriosclerosis? Much the same, a viable body being destroyed from within. Keep things in perspective. At least with the spider victims death begets new life.
We have those mud nests all over here. Sad little tombs of brave fierce warriors.

 

[MintyWood826]

Cancer? Arteriosclerosis? Much the same, a viable body being destroyed from within. Keep things in perspective. At least with the spider victims death begets new life.
We have those mud nests all over here. Sad little tombs of brave fierce warriors.

And those are pleasant ways to die?

 

[The Snark]

And those are pleasant ways to die?

Pleasant: enjoyable, pleasing, pleasurable, nice, agreeable, satisfying, gratifying, welcome, good, acceptable, to one's liking.

“And without pleasure our evening would be spoiled, wouldn’t it, my
little mercenary friend?”

"The truth forced itself on him in all its cold, brutal reality. Muspel was no all-powerful Universe, tolerating from pure indifference the existence side by side with it of another false world, which had no right to be. Muspel was fighting for its life—against all that is most shameful and frightful—against sin masquerading as eternal beauty, against baseness masquerading as Nature, against the Devil masquerading as God...." - D. Lindsay - A Voyage to Arturus

 

[Galapoheros]

I don't think you have to worry much when those come in the house, happens to me a lot too but when they get in the house they are in panic mode. They can't figure out where they are and are more interested in getting back outside than anything else. btw one time a wasp flew in my house and ran into a kukulcania web in my house(I just let her live there). That spider ran out, grabbed that wasp and dragged it behind some indoor siding. I was impressed by that, spiders often avoid wasps of any kind. It wasn't a spider hunter though, just one of the common red paper wasps around here.

 

[Cororon]

I don't think you have to worry much when those come in the house, happens to me a lot too but when they get in the house they are in panic mode. They can't figure out where they are and are more interested in getting back outside than anything else. btw one time a wasp flew in my house and ran into a kukulcania web in my house(I just let her live there). That spider ran out, grabbed that wasp and dragged it behind some indoor siding. I was impressed by that, spiders often avoid wasps of any kind. It wasn't a spider hunter though, just one of the common red paper wasps around here.

Hm, true. The one's that got inside here all went to the windows, trying to get out. I usually let them out, but my spider hadn't eaten for a while this time... I'm glad that she was quick, and she might have sensed what type of prey it was because she started by wrapping up the abdomen.

 

[Vanisher]

Calm down. I like spiders but I like these wasps too. They are beautifull and interesting part of nature. Especially ones hunting big lycosids or even theraphosids are impressive. And if You think that pompilids are bad, You will have nightmares about genus Sceliphron.

(btw dont You by chance have photos of wasps You saw ? there are groups looking fairly similar to pompilids)

Agree with Patheropsis! I love spiders but i love insects too. Those wasp are living on hunting spiders for their young, like tarantulas living on paraiyzing and killing insects and other spiders to eat. There are in fact female tarantulas killing insects to feed their young! Same thing almost!

 

[chanda]

They're not evil - they just do what it is in their nature to do. A mother wasp paralyzing a spider for her young is no worse than a spider (or scorpion or centipede or even a wolf or falcon) killing and eating another living creature. A wasp larva eats a spider. A spider eats a fly - or a butterfly or even a wasp. Values and morality don't enter into it. Some animals are predators. Some are parasitoids. Some are prey or hosts. And many of them fulfill multiple roles at different times, with the predator eventually becoming prey or becoming host to another creature's young.

While I am quite fond of my pet spiders (and keep them safe in their enclosures, away from wasps) I do not begrudge the wasps those wild spiders that they find - and the wasps themselves are quite beautiful as well. See, for example, this lovely lady I was fortunate enough to keep as a pet for a while:

@Geb Arachnia Whitney:
So, what was it that you disliked?

Was it that I kept a wasp as a pet for a while? Is it intrisically "better" to keep some animals as pets, but not others? While it's true that some people might consider a wasp to be a strange choice for a pet, it is equally true that a great many people would consider spiders (or scorpions, or centipedes, or any other inverts) as strange and "icky" pets, because their idea of what constitutes an appropriate pet does not go beyond the typical dog/cat/goldfish/hamster/parakeet.

Or do you dislike the natural order of the world, where some animals (including humans!) have evolved to prey on others, and all living things have their roles in the vast, interconnected circle of life? Because if that is the part you dislike, then you'll have to take it up with a MUCH higher authority than me!

 

[Cororon]

Maybe I shouldn't have used the word "evil", because the wasps do what their instincts want them to, and spiders can be seen as cruel too. I went from arachnophobe to a spider lover, and I see them as my buddies, and those who live with me almost like family members. Mind you, a couple of years ago I would have called spiders "evil" because I didn't know better.

I can understand you who also like insects like wasps. There is lots of fascinating stuff to discover in nature, but not everything is pink fluff of happiness. Nature is what it is.

 

[schmiggle]

Or do you dislike the natural order of the world, where some animals (including humans!) have evolved to prey on others, and all living things have their roles in the vast, interconnected circle of life? Because if that is the part you dislike, then you'll have to take it up with a MUCH higher authority than me!

Never heard anyone say it better.

 

[Quetzalcoatl Nyarlathotep]

I've never shed a drop of fear for spiders, and in all honesty, I revere them. They are to me as ones daughters and sons are to them. And I hate anything that hurts them, but at the same time, I'm not ignorant to the fact that they're part of the cycle. However, that does not prevent me from despising whatever kills them.

 

[Cororon]

I've never shed a drop of fear for spiders, and in all honesty, I revere them. They are to me as ones daughters and sons are to them. And I hate anything that hurts them, but at the same time, I'm not ignorant to the fact that they're part of the cycle. However, that does not prevent me from despising whatever kills them.

I feel the same way, and that's why I called these wasps "evil". I don't want this discussion to escalate into a flame war. It's just a clash between feelings of empathy and an objective look on nature. We can do what we can to keep our spiders safe and help other spiders by spreading knowledge. Spiders will always fall prey to predators all over the world, and we can't do much about that, and if we tried we would fail and become depressed. Let's be happy for the spider buddies we have.

 

[zyphonix223]

They're not evil - they just do what it is in their nature to do. A mother wasp paralyzing a spider for her young is no worse than a spider (or scorpion or centipede or even a wolf or falcon) killing and eating another living creature. A wasp larva eats a spider. A spider eats a fly - or a butterfly or even a wasp. Values and morality don't enter into it. Some animals are predators. Some are parasitoids. Some are prey or hosts. And many of them fulfill multiple roles at different times, with the predator eventually becoming prey or becoming host to another creature's young.

While I am quite fond of my pet spiders (and keep them safe in their enclosures, away from wasps) I do not begrudge the wasps those wild spiders that they find - and the wasps themselves are quite beautiful as well. See, for example, this lovely lady I was fortunate enough to keep as a pet for a while:

I completely agree with you, I still hate them though