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Spider Hunting Wasp Predates Spider

During a session at Skipwith Common looking for macro subjects I saw some movement on a brick wall (part of the bomb dumps) when I look down a bit closer I was amazed to see a spider hunting wasp dragging a spider up the wall.This was my first time observing a ‘spider hunting wasp’ actually predating a spider. This parasitic wasp hunts for spiders. When it finds a spider it paralyses the spider with a sting. Then it will transport the spider to a burrow and lay an egg inside the spider. The egg will hatch into a wasp larvae which will then eat the spider from the inside, while the spider is still alive. Eventually the larvae will metamorphose into the final wasp stage and hatch out of the spider. It was 2014 when I saw this and then again I saw the same behaviour in 2025 in exactly the same spot!

Spider Hunting Wasp Predates Spider

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