- Wasp body length 30mm
- This wasp is large. Its head, legs and antenna are black and orange in colour, thorax and eyes are in black colour. Its wings are in orange colour with black tips.
- When we took those photos, it was searching on leaves and ground. We believe it was looking for spider as prey to feed its young.
- The above picture shows the wasp just came out from a hole (could be a spider hole) with empty hand. We found that they are active on early summer. They build burrow nest in soil. This Spider Wasp is a predator of Huntsman Spider and Wolf Spider.
Orange Spider Wasp - Priocnemis bicolor
FAMILY POMPILIDAE
This page contains pictures and information about Orange Spider Wasps that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
The Spider Wasp found a spider
- We took those pictures in Karawatha Forest during mid summer. The spider had already paralyzed when we found them.
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- The spider seemed too large for the wasp to handle. We watched the wasp for 15 minutes and did not move a bit.
- Spider Wasp provides one single spider for each cell. So they have to attack spiders about their same size or even slightly bigger.
- Reference:
- 1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, pp 975.
- 2. Spider wasps Fact File - Wildlife of Sydney, AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, 2007.
- 3. What wasp is that? - An interactive identification guide to the Australasian families of Hymenoptera, 2007. (Priocnemis bicolor)
- 4. Northern Territory Insects, A Comprehensive Guide CD - Graham Brown, 2009.
