By the time I came across these two the battle had been fought and the wasp had one. That is not to say that the spider was dead, but I’m sure it wish it was.
The wasp is an Orange Spider Wasp and the spider is a Huntsman, and both are quite large. The battle has taken place on a pile of topsoil in my back yard. The wasp stung the spider which does not kill it but paralyses it from which it will not recover. The wasp spent some time digging a hole suitable for the spider and then dragged it into it. She will then lay an egg on the spider and the grub will spend the next several days (or weeks, I can’t remember) eating the still living spider.
The wasp does not always win the battle. I remember when I was young watching an epic battle between a Funnel Web and one of these wasps that lasted at least half an hour. In the end the wasp died and the spider had a meal. I was confused as to why after successfully getting away many times the wasp would fly back to the spider. I asked my teacher and he explained that the wasp was trying to capture the spider to host its grub. I was still confused as to why the wasp would chose an animal that could kill it to feed its offspring and it wasn’t until I found a book about it that it was made clear. Spiders have the ability to survive many weeks without food making them a perfect host for the grub.
Anyway, here a few more shots of that day. I wish I had seen the battle as spider was considerably larger than the wasp and I’m sure the battle would have been epic.
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