Red-winged Spider Wasp vs Brachymeria Chalcid

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Red-winged Spider Wasp Brachymeria Chalcid
Scientific Name Tachypompilus ferrugineus Brachymeria intermedia
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Pompilidae Chalcididae
Size 18-28 mm 3-5 mm
Habitat Deserts & Drylands Woodlands
Diet Predators Parasitoids
Regions North America North America, Europe, Asia
Conservation Least Concern Not Evaluated

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.

Brachymeria Chalcid

A stocky black chalcid wasp that is a hyperparasitoid, attacking other parasitoid wasps inside their hosts. It has become a significant pupal parasitoid of the gypsy moth.

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Did You Know?

It is a parasitoid that parasitizes other parasitoids, making it a hyperparasitoid with a complex trophic role.