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🐝 Ants, Bees & Wasps

Tarantula Hawk

Pepsis grossa

About

A giant wasp that hunts tarantulas. The female paralyzes a tarantula with her sting, drags it to a burrow, and lays an egg on it β€” the larva eats the spider alive.

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Did You Know?

The tarantula hawk has the second most painful sting of any insect β€” but the pain lasts only about 5 minutes. Scientists recommend just lying down and screaming.