The Huntress

  Out beneath the fig tree, one can usually find any number of critters. Each night, coons nibble the fruit from the lower branches and drop a good many half-eaten.  This ready source of food then becomes fodder for mice, voles, slugs, snails and any number of insects.  The smell of fermenting figs permeates the hillside and draws critters from a good distance.  I suppose that I could carefully rake up and dispose of the rotting pieces of figs but I figure at least this way something is getting a meal.  I do have to be careful where I put my feet, though, as these small critters can also be seen as a meal for a moccasin.  Today, however, I found another critter that interested me.  A wasp was busying herself among the grass blades and fallen leaves.  She was in search of spiders to use as food for her larvae.  While I am not certain of the true name for the wasp, Pop always referred to them as Spider Wasps.  Makes sense to me so the name sticks.  But it was not her vigorous search for arachnids that made me sit and watch her for a good ten minutes or so. it was her colors.  She is gorgeous!

  This wasp is one of the most brilliantly hued of all wasps.  With her bright red body and metallic blue wings she stands out in a crowd!  It is hard to miss her if you are one who looks for wee things beneath your feet.  I do.  Otherwise, you would be hard-pressed to find her as she darts between and under the blades of grass.  She is quick.  Much quicker than most other insects.  I suppose she has to be to snag the spiders before they have a chance to reverse the ambush.  

  I watched as she raced about under the fig tree and then as she attacked a wolf spider.  It took her a grand total of a maybe four or five seconds before she disappeared beneath a log with her prize.  I am sure she was busy laying an egg and did not wish to be disturbed so I eased back away from her. The Spider Wasp does not kill the spider.  She paralyzes it with multiple stings.  She, then, drags her prey to a suitable spot, digs a hole, pulls the paralyzed spider into the hole and lays a single egg on its abdomen.  Then, the egg hatches and the larva will feed upon the spider for about a week. After gorging itself, the larva will make a cocoon and stay put for a while.  Once it comes out of the cocoon, it digs its way out of the hole and immediately starts searching for spiders!  Any critter that kills multiple spiders each day has my approval.  While I do agree that spiders are extremely helpful in the garden, it is nice to know that there is something out there that specifically hunts them.  This keeps things nicely in check!  Good Ole Mother Nature is at work again!