Scientific Name: Pepsis sp.
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Pompilidae
Diet: Tarantula spiders in the larval stage and nectar from brittlebush and other desert flowers as adults. 
Vegetation Association: Can be found in dry desert hills and valleys wherever there are tarantula spiders. 
Predators: Roadrunners.
Life Stages: Complete metamorphosis; egg, larvae, pupa, adult.
Notes: The female will search for tarantulas and bite onto its leg and inject paralyzing venom. The host is then dragged to its burrow where the wasp lays an egg on or near it.  This is a solitary wasp whose sting is excruciating.

Photo: Taken at Brown's Ranch on March 4, 2004.

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