Red Car Property: Tarantula Hawk - Another Reason Not To Wear Sandals When Hiking

Photos: Diane Edwardson, May 25, 2014.  That's a small 2" long Tarantula Hawk.  The ones I've seen on the Red Car Property usually have 3" long bodies!    (Click on photos to enlarge.)

While stopping to look for the Cooper's Hawk I'd heard earlier, where Red Car Canyon opens up into the meadow on the south end of the property, I heard a "Click click click," like a camera shutter, fly behind my knees.  From the sound, I knew it was likely one of the scariest & least photographed bugs I've ever encountered on the Red Car Property, I shortened the dog's leash, grabbed my camera, looked around on the ground.

Sure enough, it was a Tarantula Hawk, a huge wasp with an reportedly nasty sting.  She was rapidly & methodically walking a grid pattern of about 12" across then 6" up then 12" back again.  She covered about 7' in a very short span of time. She must've been hot on the trail of ground dwelling insects to lay her eggs in. She lays one egg in the host.  The size of the host determines the size of the offspring, clearly getting her name from her preference for Tarantulas. 

Last year, I encountered one of these scary creatures while it was walking in & out of gopher holes above the historic viaduct footings.  At which point, I searched What's That Bug? for answers.


UPDATE, 5-26-14: What's That Bug adds the wasp may have been hunting for prey or looking for a suitable nursery.  Thanks Bugman!

Historic Viaduct Footings: Tarantula Hawk - No, It's Not A Raptor, It's Much Scarier

Photo: Diane Edwardson,  June 18, 2013.  I encountered the scariest bug, EVER, on the Red Car Property, just above the historic landmark Pacific Electric Viaduct Footings.  (Click on photos to enlarge.)

I was down on the ground shooting photos of some Kotolo Milkweed, when a gigantic 3" long black wasp-like bug with rust colored wings suddenly took off from the ground nearby.  It scared the Hell out of me & my dog.  It flew about a foot off the ground slowly, trailing its very long, substantial legs behind.  It kept landing & crawling in & out of gopher holes.  It seemed to stay for quite some time in a few of the holes.   

Photo: Diane Edwardson, June 18, 2013.  This is the photo the first photo was excerpted from.  I didn't want to get to close to the scariest bug I'd ever seen.

Since I'd seen this bug once every few years in June, on the south end of the Red Car Property, I figured it was time for some research.  I searched What's That Bug? for a giant black wasp, Los Angeles.  The first post was a photo from Clare Marter Kenyon, a fellow community activist from Mt Washington.  Voila - scary bug identified: Tarantula Hawk.  It even involved Milkweed (which further reading revealed, these bugs, like so many others, can't resist). 

I sent my encounter to What's That Bug? A quick reply came from Bugman: "Several years ago, Daniel saw one in the Los Angeles River bed between the Hyperion Avenue bridge and the Fletcher Avenue bridge, right below the area you mentioned. Just last month, Daniel saw a Tarantula Hawk prowling the grounds near the Municipal Art Gallery in Barnsdall Park. There are most likely Tarantula Hawks in Griffith Park as well."

A Tarantula Hawk is a large spider wasp that is definitely a tenacious predator that lays its eggs in spiders.  The larvae develop inside the paralyzed spider.   Check out a number of photos & accounts of spider wasps in action from around the world on What's That Bug?

Semi Tropic Spiritualists' Tract: Coast Live Oak Gall Wasp, Stuff You Missed This Year

Photo: Diane Edwardson, February 10, 2012.  I'd always wondered about those mutant golf ball sized fruits you occasionally see on the native Coast Live Oak in the area.  (Click on photo to enlarge.)

 

Last week's Christmas Fungus Frenzy had me wrongly thinking puffball mushroom, but they're always on the sunny, east facing side of the tree. 

 

Gall Wasps lay their eggs in the buds of native Coast Live Oak Trees.  The tree reacts by creating the protective casing or "gall" around the growing larvae.  When holes appear in the gall, the larvae has matured and left the gall.  Another mystery solved.

 

"Stuff You Missed This Year" is our annual wrap-up of interesting photos we didn't get a chance to run in a timely manner.