Orange Spider Wasp - ? Cryptocheilus bicolor


Wasp body length 30mm

This wasp is large. Its head, legs and antenna are black and orange-yellow in colour, thorax and eyes are in dark brown to black colour. Its wings are tinted in orange brown colour. There are the broad orange bands on its black abdomen.



In a Nov 2007 morning in Karawatha Forest, we saw this large orange spider wasp was searching on a burnt fallen log. The wasp searched with its slightly curved antenna and with the typical spider wasp wings-flicking motions. Near a crack it sensed something, it then ducked down and waited.



From time to time it put its antenna inside the crack and then resumed the duck down waiting position. We watched for half an hour and nothing happened. We thought the wasp might sensed a spider inside the crack and tried to capture it.



The wasp did not too care about our watching. It flied to a few meters away if we came too closely. When we moved away, it flied back to the crack and kept waiting.

Reference:
1. Spider Wasps - Fact sheet, Australian Museum online, Australian Museum, 2003

FAMILY POMPILIDAE