A fast-moving digger wasp that provisions its nest burrow with spiders that it has caught and paralysed.
Family Pompilidae: many genera
Example sentencesExamples
- Every year we get quite large numbers of these black spider-hunting wasps in Emthree.
- Spider wasps, also called pompilid wasps or spider-hunting wasps, are insects belonging to a diverse family named Pompilidae, of the order Hymenoptera.
- Its worst enemy is the spider-hunting wasp which forces its way into the spider's burrow, paralyses it with its sting and lays an egg.
- The female spider-hunting wasps locate their prey and sting them with venom that causes paralysis but does not kill.
- Despite their well-defended homes, trapdoor spiders are vulnerable to spider-hunting wasps.