Spider wasp catching a spider

It was over a year ago that I first saw this flying insect that had caught a large spider and was dragging it off somewhere presumably to eat. I’d never seen anything like it and I spent a while researching to try and work out what it was. At the time I thought it was a robber fly but now I think it’s a spider wasp! Robber flys do indeed prey on some spiders and other insects but the images really dont look anything like what I’d seen. The spider wasp is a much closer match. I’ve seen a few now, here’s some pictures of a smaller spider wasp with another decent sized spider. This particular one was struggling a bit with it’s prey. It even tried to fly a bit and only just managed it. Looking at the picture the spider could easily weigh more than the wasp! Spider wasps are known to chop off the legs of the spider to make it easier to carry. All the ones I’ve seen the spiders are missing their legs. Nature is brutal!

Spider Wasp with a big spider. Spider wasps are known to remove the spiders legs to make them easier to carry

Resources and references

• Wikipedia
• Australian Museum
• Queensland Museum

• Insect
• Wasp