Poor Spider Didn’t Stand a Chance


When watering my citruses today, a movement caught my eye in one of the bowls. A tiny black parasitic wasp in a struggle with a spider twice its size. I did not have my camera with me and of course, I could not go and get it, so I snapped at least a few pictures with my phone. I assume the wasp has won and laid the spider aside for afters because it has left it lay there all limp and motionless, danced around a bit and then left.

Pictures below the fold – content warning spiders and predation.

They struggled for quite a while, but I only managed to make one usable picture towards the end. © Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

When the spider seemed subdued, the wasp has laid it aside and started to run around in number 8 figures. I assume it was memorizing the surroundings in order to find it later, I have observed parasitic wasps do this around the entrances to their nests before. © Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

The poor spider is probably still alive but paralyzed, destined to become a snack for wasp larvae. © Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

The tiny wasp took a short break outside the plant bowl. Black-clad like a ninja – how fitting for a kick-ass assassin of the tiny world. Tacticool too. © Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

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