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'Welcome to your nightmare' said the wasp to the spider
'Welcome to your nightmare' said the wasp to the spider
Abra


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: A Bug's Life: Insects, Bugs, Beetle III (Advanced Editing VII)
Camera: Canon EOS-5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L IS USM
Location: Maianbar, Australia
Date: Oct 26, 2013
Date Uploaded: Oct 23, 2013

 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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AuthorThread
 11/03/2013 08:06:09 PM
Great shot, interesting story!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
11/03/2013 06:05:21 PM
Really fantastic!! Could hope for more DOF, but that would be unrealistic, since you're dealing with such small subjects at such magnification.

Very well done.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 11/03/2013 11:47:32 AM
Is that one of those parasitic wasps laying eggs in the poor spider? Whatever's happening, I don't think it's going to be good for the spider.

Could use just a tiny bit more DOF to get the rest of the spider's face in focus, I think.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 10/31/2013 05:10:51 AM
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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