第 0984 號，共 1 402 號

Rusty-winged tarantula hawk

Hemipepsis ustulata

名字的由來： The common name 'tarantula hawk' comes from the wasp's habit of hunting tarantulas to raise its young.1

只是會痛會痛，但不會對你造成嚴重傷害。

蜜蜂、胡蜂和虎頭蜂

螫吃：每樣都來一點

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

The rusty-winged tarantula hawk is a large wasp, with a matte black body and rust-orange wings. It lives in the dry Southwestern United States. Its sting is strong enough to paralyse a tarantula, which the wasp then uses to feed its young.1

分布在

Southwestern United States, from California through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, north to Nevada, Oklahoma and Kansas1

北美洲

首頁

It lives in the arid climate of the Southwestern United States, including the Sonoran Desert near Phoenix, Arizona. Territorial males perch on prominent plants at high elevations, 1500 m or higher, on mountain ridges.1

長度

5 cm (2 in)1

最高速度

大約 42 km/h（26 mph）

飛行, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

Adult wasps feed on nectar from flowers such as milkweeds and western soapberry trees. Their larvae feed on tarantulas that the adult wasps have paralysed and captured.1

Rusty-winged tarantula hawk 的照片 — Rusty-winged tarantula hawk。照片：Ken-ichi Ueda。 CC BY 4.0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Matte black body with rust-orange wings1
Grows up to 5 cm long, among the largest wasps of its order1
Long legs, used to grapple with prey1
Males are smaller and more slender than females, with a more vibrant wing colour1
The antenna has twelve segments1

常被誤認為： Its relatives in the genus Pepsis look very similar. Pepsis wasps are more metallic black, with deep-blue striped patterns. The only reliable way to tell them apart is by the pattern of veins in their wings.1

毒液力量

螫

毒液從螫針出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

Its sting paralyses a tarantula but keeps it alive, so the spider stays fresh food for the larva. The sting is described as powerful and debilitating. It is ranked among the most painful stings in the insect world on the Schmidt sting pain index.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

Its sting is among the most painful known from insects and is described as debilitating. The sting deters nearly all predators, including birds and lizards.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

Its painful sting deters nearly all predators.1

如果牠螫人

把蜜蜂的螫針刮掉，然後冷敷患處。
如果傷者呼吸困難、臉部或喉嚨腫脹，或覺得快要昏倒，這就是過敏急症：打緊急電話，如果傷者有腎上腺素自動注射筆，就使用它。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠螫了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

比你的小指頭還短可以在 9 秒內飛過一整座足球場

Rusty-winged tarantula hawk 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一個正在衝刺的人 大約 37 km/h (23 mph)

Rusty-winged tarantula hawk 大約 42 km/h (26 mph)

市區裡的汽車 大約 50 km/h (31 mph)

值得知道

小知識

The larva eats its living host from the inside. It hollows out the tarantula until the spider dies, once feeding reaches the bases of its legs.1

After paralysing a tarantula, the female may drag it up to 100 m to a burrow or cavity, where she seals it in with her egg.1

Males fight for territory in mid-air. The two wasps clash wings and spiral upwards, and larger males usually win and push smaller males off the best perches.1

Males gather on mountain ridges in great numbers during the breeding season, while females are rarely seen.1

Adult wasps do not grow after they emerge, so smaller males are at a permanent disadvantage when competing with larger ones.1

給毒液專家

學名: Hemipepsis ustulata
類群: 蜜蜂、胡蜂和虎頭蜂
家人: Pompilidae2
排序: Hymenoptera
各大洲: 北美洲
寶寶: The female lays one egg on each tarantula she has paralysed. The egg is about 5 mm long, and the larva that hatches from it feeds on the spider.1
對人的危險: 2 / 5: 疼痛3