What is a Tarantula Hawk?
So the other day my homie was telling me about how he noticed this big ass bug while he was out hiking with Wifey. He’s a California native so he knows a bit about the wildlife here. He tells me it was this thing called a Tarantula Hawk. I was like, “the hell is that man?” He begins to explain that it’s a wasp that kills Tarantulas.
After doing some good ole youtube research I came to understand this bug is a mutha funkin G. I mean as hard as they come. The mother of all Geez. Like if this bug were a dude, he would have balls that hang down to his shins. This bug is the most Gangster bug I have seen to date and here is why:
The Tarantula Hawk is among the largest of wasps reaching two inches (50mm) long with a blue-black body and bright rust-colored wings. The wings are bright to let you know, “don’t funk with me.” Their stinger is among the most painful in the world. According to Schmidt’s Pain Index, it is second only to that of a bullet ant.
A Tarantula is a big ass spider and depending on the species, the body length of tarantulas range from 2.5–10 cm (1–4 inches), with 8–30 cm (3 to 12 inch) leg spans (their size when including their legs). The largest species of tarantulas can weigh over 9.1 grams (0.3 ounces).
Now the gangster part:
The FEMALE Tarantula Wasp walks INTO the nest of a Tarantula and drags his/her ass out, beats him down and further drops the “owned” stamp on it by laying freakin larvae on it. The egg hatches and then feed on the guts of the Tarantula. The male tarantula hawk does not hunt; instead, it feeds off the flowers of milkweeds, western soapberry trees, or mesquite trees. The male tarantula hawk has a behavior called “hill-topping”, where he sits atop tall plants and watches for females that are ready to reproduce.
What? The male just has sex while the female is the real Gangster up in here waaaaaattt? You know you want to see it in action. Peep the vids people this is craziness: (and don’t get at mad at me when you start looking up bug fights on youtube)
Check out these gangster pics: (click the pic)
The only thing around that consumes these babies is a RoadRunner! Which officially makes The RoadRunner a SuperGalactic Gangster.
Main Source Wiki: