Gave me the hebeegeebees
 

I was on the phone with Tony when this bad boy decided to land a few feet away from me. I tried to snap some pics but it was moving around to fast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk

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Tarantula hawk!
2nd most painful insect sting in the world.

they are as common as the common fly down in the Baja. They are wicked but not aggressive.

They make cool pets, you just have to be very nice to them...

http://bugguide.net/images/cache/5HT...NZ7LRRWHVZ.jpg

Wikipedia states: Sting The tarantula hawk is relatively docile and rarely stings without provocation. However, the sting, particularly of P. grossa, is among the most painful of any insect, though the intense pain only lasts about three minutes. Commenting on his own experience, Justin O. Schmidt, entomologist and creator of the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, described the pain as "…immediate, excruciating pain that simply shuts down one's ability to do anything, except, perhaps, scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations." In terms of scale, the wasp's sting is rated near the top of the Schmidt index, second only to that of the bullet ant, and is described by Schmidt as "blinding, fierce [and] shockingly electric". Because of their extremely large stingers, very few animals are able to eat them; one of the few animals that can is the roadrunner. Many predatory animals and kayakers avoid these wasps.

I don't know that looks like one of those Homeland Security Drones being used to spy and make sure you're not poaching the MPA

Schmidt index? I think I'd "Schmidt" if one of those stung me!

We had one of them as a pet with the neighbors as kids. 20 gallon aquarium and a few caterpillars a week.


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Looks like Starship Troopers. :eek:

I was that on a morning run today and I saw something scurrying in front of me and I took a closer look and those red wings just stood out. I made sure to give a wide berth just in case that little f@ckers started to chase after my shadow like those camel spiders. Lol

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Have you seen one actually kill tarantula?

Tarantula Hawk!!!
That's definitely going to be the name of my new band.

I have seen them attack and immobilize a tarantula out in Mission Trails while I was mountain biking. It then dragged it off of the road. That is one tough bug.

Ponder this, where there is a Tarantula Hawk, there's got to be tarantulas, its gotta eat... :eek:

I was hiking in mission trails and found one of those trying to drag a tarantula off the trail into the weeds. It was like a nature movie.