Spider wasps

Spider wasps, also called pompilid wasps or spider-hunting wasps, are insects belonging to a diverse family named Pompilidae, of the order Hymenoptera.

Spider wasps are medium sized insects (approximately 1/2 inch long), slender with long spiny legs. The body is usually dark and the wings are smoky black or blue. The wasps are very active and the wings are jerked continuously as the wasp runs about on the ground searching for prey. A prominent characteristic is the curled or spiraled position of the female’s antennae.

Spider wasps are in the family Pompilidae and are also called spider wasps. Spider wasps are nectivorous, feeding on flower nectar or the juice of damaged fruits. They have a fondness for sweet, fermented fruit and may behave drunkenly after consuming it. They are often seen around blossoms during the summer.

Life Cycle: spider wasps you are mostly female wasps preparing nest chambers for their larvae. They dig a burrow using long spines on their front legs, then search rapidly around tree trunks and on the ground for a spider.

It find large as a huntsman or funnel-web and twice as heavy as itself, the wasp stings and paralyses it, and then drags or flies it back to the burrow. She then lays an egg on the spider’s body, and seals it in a chamber or cell at the end of the burrow. The larva hatches and feeds on the body of the spider before pupating in a thin silky cocoon in the cell..

Some spider wasps sting the spider and lay an egg on it but do not dig a burrow to put it in. The spider is left where it was stung and the larva hatches and eats the spider. A small number of Spider Wasps steal spiders from other Spider Wasps for their own larva.

Damage: Wasps can be found on flowers, particularly from goldenrod in late fall. Paper wasp nests can be dislodged from eaves using sprays of high pressure water from a good distance, taking precautions not to allow wasps to attack nearby people or pets. Wasps will eventually abandon the nest.

controls: The best time of the year to control wasps is in June after the queen has established her colony and while the colony is still small. But because nests are small, they are also harder to find. The best time of the day to control wasp nests is at night, when they are less active. At temperatures below 50° F, wasps have difficulty flying. Never seal a wasp nest until you are sure there are no surviving wasps inside. If a nest is not discovered until fall, control may be unnecessary as imminent freezing temperatures will kill the colony.

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