Garden

[Jacie]

I've a mesquite tree in my side yard that is teeming with tarantula hawks. I understand they like the nectar, which is fine,  as they don't bother us when we are out there. I do also hear their sting is crazy bad.

My question to anyone who might know is, does this mean I have a high population of tarantulas? A cool and beneficial spider that terrifies me to the nth degree!

Anyone have experience with this situation?

[Kachina624]

I never heard of a tarantula hawk.  Is it a bird?  I live where there are tarantulas but have never actually seen one. I think I'd take a "live and let live" attitude toward them.

[Kachina624]

@Jacie   I answered my own question and maybe yours.  I even discovered that this thing is my state's official insect.

[BlueFinch]

I'd be more afraid of the Tarantula Hawks. Give them lots of space. Their sting is supposed to be the worst of any wasp creature there is. 

I don't think it means you have an infestation of Tarantula's. They're probably dining on another preferred item. They can't live on Tarantula's alone. 

[Jacie]

@Kachina624 a Tarantula Hawk is a wasp. HUGE. Females use the spiders to lay their eggs on. Gruesome.

[BlueFinch]

It is a nature horror story, how they implant eggs on the Tarantula, while being careful not to kill the spider. Soon there's a baby TH.

Seems the spider would die before the exit? Tarantula's are more fragile than they look. Finding enough spiders as hosts would be a challenge, too. 

[geezerette]

I would wonder if you had a burrow, or several burrows, in the ground near that tree.  It's also possible they have used a cavity in the tree for their egg laying.

My reading says they're solitary, so that's why I would guess you have a breeding ground in that area.  

I have seen them around me and never knew they were any worse than any other wasp.  But I take care to avoid all wasps anyway.

[Jacie]

@BlueFinch it is my understanding that as the eggs hatch, they feast on the still live, but paralyzed, tarantula.

[cookinfreak]

These sound somewhat like a cicada killer wasp, but the cicada killers are pretty harmless to humans. They a very large black and yellow body and look terrifying. The first time I saw one I freaked out. Thank God for the internet. They kill the cicadas and drag the carcass back to their nest to lay their eggs in. They like to bury into the ground next to driveways and cement areas. Don't know why but that is what I found when I googled them. 

Glad I've never seen a taratula hawk. I too avoid any kind of stinging insect.

cookin

[wagirl]

Well I have to say that anything to do with any type of spiders  I would have to burn the place to the ground!!! Am not a fan---