Unwanted passenger...
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 23,053
Likes: 12,327
From: Arkansas
Found a Tarantula Hawk on my back fender in the garage about two weeks ago. I was reading about them after I saw it and the article said it is one of most painful stinging insects there are.
From Wikipedia:
A tarantula hawk is a spider wasp which hunts tarantulas as food for its larvae. Tarantula hawks belong to any of the many species in the genera Pepsis and Hemipepsis in the family Pompilidae (spider wasps).
The more familiar species are up to five centimetres (two inches) long with a blue-black body and bright rust-colored wings (other species have black wings with blue highlights), making them among the largest of wasps. The coloring on their wings warns potential predators that they are dangerous (aposematism). Their long legs have hooked claws for grappling with their victims. The stinger of a female tarantula hawk can be up to 7 mm (1/3 inch) long, and the sting is considered among the most painful insect stings in the world.
That would have sucked if I hadn't seen it and it made it's way up the back of my shirt or worse, down the back of my pants.
From Wikipedia:
A tarantula hawk is a spider wasp which hunts tarantulas as food for its larvae. Tarantula hawks belong to any of the many species in the genera Pepsis and Hemipepsis in the family Pompilidae (spider wasps).
The more familiar species are up to five centimetres (two inches) long with a blue-black body and bright rust-colored wings (other species have black wings with blue highlights), making them among the largest of wasps. The coloring on their wings warns potential predators that they are dangerous (aposematism). Their long legs have hooked claws for grappling with their victims. The stinger of a female tarantula hawk can be up to 7 mm (1/3 inch) long, and the sting is considered among the most painful insect stings in the world.
That would have sucked if I hadn't seen it and it made it's way up the back of my shirt or worse, down the back of my pants.
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,128
Likes: 51,461
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
You got lucky if it healed in a couple months , was damn near a year for the hole in my arm to close after my meeting with one of those . Nasty is an understatement .
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 23,053
Likes: 12,327
From: Arkansas
When I was in Army Basic training a guy got bit on the ankle by one out on the range. He ended up losing he foot.
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 66,128
Likes: 51,461
From: Niles Canyon Ca.
Guy I worked with got bit on the chest. When he finally got in to see a Doc they told him two more days it would have eaten into his lungs and he probably would have died.
When I was in Army Basic training a guy got bit on the ankle by one out on the range. He ended up losing he foot.
When I was in Army Basic training a guy got bit on the ankle by one out on the range. He ended up losing he foot.
That looks tasty
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Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2011
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From: A SaltwaterHillbilly-Surrounded By Cages
Probable ID: Species Eumorpha pandorus - Pandorus Sphinx Moth - Hodges #7859
Some info about this beautiful moth - http://bugguide.net/node/view/3937
Some info about this beautiful moth - http://bugguide.net/node/view/3937
