tarantula hawk wasp

[NocturnalSkies]

Browsing the internet, I came across this odd website that seems to be selling tarantula hawk wasps. Can these things actually be kept?

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[viper69]

Who would ever want to raise the enemy!

 

[chanda]

They can be kept - at least temporarily - but they're not really well-suited as pets.

I try to catch one each summer to show my students, and I'll usually keep it for a week or two (until the class is over) before releasing it. A large, soft-sided pop-up butterfly enclosure works, and they can be fed sliced fruit or sugar water.

Here's one I kept. (Because her wings were damaged when I found her, so she could not fly, I did not release her. I kept her for the remainder of her natural life.)