Horrifying footage shows a huge wasp dragging a paralysed huntsman spider around a kitchen floor

UK Daily Mail ^ | January 10, 2017 | Ted Thornhill

[C19fan]

Most living creatures make themselves scarce upon seeing a huntsman spider.

But not the spider wasp.

It kills them and uses them as a giant meal for its larvae – and one of the insects has been caught on camera dragging one of the arachnids around a kitchen.

[MarMema]

The wasp's stinger is so well tuned to its victim that it can sense where it is inside the cockroach's dome to inject venom directly into subsections of its brain. The stinger is capable of feeling around in the roach's head, relying on mechanical and chemical cues to find its way past the ganglionic sheath (the insect's version of a blood-brain barrier) and inject venom exactly where it needs to go. The two areas of the roach brain that she targets are very important to her; scientists have artificially clipped them from cockroaches to see how the wasp reacts, and when they are removed, the wasp tries to find them, taking a long time with her stinger embedded in search of the missing brain regions.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

BEAT me to it.

[RegulatorCountry]

Nothing predates upon stink bugs to my knowledge. They really are gross when crushed, you won’t soon forget the smell. Very protective, that. The things are weird, so ponderous, stupid and slow, like some sort of insect dinosaur. I guess protection from predators allows them that luxury.

[chris37]

Agreed. I'm pretty much horrified. Strange how Google has pictures of just about ever possible conceivable thing :O

[NorthMountain]

It isn't "predation" exactly, but this does a good job killing them:

I've sprayed them with various insecticides, including "Wasp & Hornet Killer", and the damn things just brush it off and fly away.

They're not of this Earth ...

[Grimmy]

Ick factor +10.

[RegulatorCountry]

My mom keeps a lidded jar half filled with vinegar and goes around the windows of her house with a hand brush looking for them. Just sweeps them in and clamps the lid down tight whenever she finds one. And, where there’s one there are more. She’s tried everything to be rid of them, but they come back. Great house, beautiful, love it, wouldn’t trade it for anything else. But, they’re in there, apparently to stay. Exterminators say they work their way into the insulation somehow.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Isn't that one of those Asian Giant hornets that eat Honey bees for snacks?

[JayAr36]

Horrifying footage shows a huge wasp dragging a paralysed huntsman spider around a kitchen floor

Horrifying! OK all you weak sisters and girlie men close your eyes

[fireman15]

The saddest thing about spiders is that they don’t have little faces so you can see the look of shock and outrage as they are sucked up into the vacuum cleaner.

Please Sir don't suck me up with your vacuum cleaner... I was just eating little fleas, lice and mites which were feeding on you, your wife, your children and your dog.

[Bigg Red]

I have seen such a creature here in Maryland but only about 3 times. First time, it freaked me out a bit, I must admit.

[Bigg Red]

There are a few insect species that do that. It’s horrifying to think of, but, fortunately, the insect victim can’t experience the type of thoughts we would have. And they are not in pain.

[tumblindice]

"Insect politics ain't pretty." Brundle Fly

[Bigg Red]

Toilet is the best destination for the stink bug, IMO.

[Bigg Red]

Most spiders are our friends. They eat all sorts of annoying insects.

[Delta 21]

Good on flying venomous insects as well as spiders. It knocks wasps out of the air as good as Bee Bop.

I started keeping bees so I am very biased when it comes to insects. I dont like wasps and yellowjackets.

[editor-surveyor]

.
We have wasps similar to that one in the SF Bay Area, and the San Joaquin valley. They’re big, but not at all aggressive.
.

[tumblindice]

My mother-in-law had occasional infestations of little black beetle bugs when it was damp. She called them `democrats’.
I sure miss her.

[sevinufnine]

“We’ve got Japanese Hornets here”

You may be confusing them with the European Hornet. We have the European Hornets well, established here in VA. They aren’t as aggressive as other wasps, but are enormous. The queens can be 2 inches. We kill them in the spring when we can to prevent them from nesting nearby. If the hornets you see have bright, yellow faces (the entire face) and black bodies then yeah, you have the Japanese which are very, nasty, more aggressive, and even larger than the EHs.

As for the Huntsman wasp, I actually video taped one a couple summers ago dragging a spider around my Koi pond. Was actually kinda cool.

[sevinufnine]

“Their saving grace is, they’re not usually aggressive toward humans and they eat wasps.”

OH...meant to add that when the Europeans build a nest nearby...and you know when they have because we see them constantly, we have like zero wasp nests on the eves because yeah, they hunt them!