Spider-hunting Wasp vs Blue Horntail

Side-by-side species comparison

Spider-hunting Wasp

A large all-black spider-hunting wasp that drags paralyzed wolf spiders back to its burrow.

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Paralyzes a wolf spider with a precise sting to the nerve ganglion then drags it backwards to its burrow.

A metallic blue-black horntail wasp found across the Northern Hemisphere. It breeds in recently dead or dying spruce and fir trees.

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Adults sometimes emerge from milled lumber years later, boring clean round exit holes through flooring or walls.