Congo Giant Ground Beetle vs Red-winged Spider Wasp

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Congo Giant Ground Beetle Red-winged Spider Wasp
Scientific Name Anthia duodecimguttata Tachypompilus ferrugineus
Order Coleoptera Hymenoptera
Family Carabidae Pompilidae
Size 35-55 mm 18-28 mm
Habitat Grasslands Deserts & Drylands
Diet Predators Predators
Regions Sub-Saharan Africa (widespread from Senegal to Ethiopia and South Africa) North America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Congo Giant Ground Beetle

A massive black ground beetle with twelve white spots on its elytra, found across sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of the largest carabid beetles on the continent.

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Did You Know?

This beetle can deliver a painful bite and simultaneously spray formic acid from its abdomen, using a dual defense strategy that makes it formidable for predators to handle.

Red-winged Spider Wasp

A large rusty-red spider wasp that hunts wolf spiders and other large ground spiders. It drags paralyzed prey across the ground to its burrow.

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Did You Know?

Females can drag spiders many times their own weight across rough terrain to reach their nesting burrows.