{"id":116766,"date":"2023-10-05T04:35:56","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T10:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=116766"},"modified":"2023-10-05T04:52:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T10:52:53","slug":"west-desert-tarantula-hawk-wasp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/05\/west-desert-tarantula-hawk-wasp\/","title":{"rendered":"West Desert Tarantula-hawk Wasp"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been meaning to share this Tarantula-hawk Wasp photo that I took in the West Desert of Utah for about a year, and today is as good a day as any.<\/p>\n

\"Tarantula-hawkTarantula-hawk Wasp in the West Desert \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was out in a canyon in the sky island mountains of the West Desert, searching for birds. Since I was driving slowly, I was able to spot smaller subjects such as butterflies, bees, hoverflies, and wasps. As I rounded a curve in the road in my Jeep, a two-inch-long, large, colorful Tarantula-hawk Wasp caught my eye.<\/p>\n

The wasp wasn’t in the best light, but I decided to photograph it anyway. It was the first and only time I have had this species in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

I made the best of the light that I had and hoped the wasp would move to a location with better light. It didn’t and flew off out of my sight, so I am glad I took the photos that I did. I’ve identified this as a Thisbe\u2019s Tarantula-hawk Wasp<\/span>, but if I am incorrect, please don’t hesitate to correct me.<\/p>\n

I was thrilled to photograph this Tarantula-hawk Wasp<\/span><\/a> in the same mountains where I found and photographed a Desert Tarantula in September of 2020<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Facts about Tarantula-Hawk Wasps:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The females of this wasp species sting tarantulas between the legs to paralyze them. Then, they drag the spider to a specially prepared burrow, where they lay a single egg on the spider’s abdomen and cover the burrow entrance. The larva then consumes the still-living host.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

I wasn’t worried or even the least bit concerned about this large wasp stinging me because I knew it didn’t see me as a threat or as a tarantula. However, I feel that I should state that, from everything I have read, their stings are incredibly painful. Just a word of caution!<\/p>\n

The cycle of life in the natural world always fascinates me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been meaning to share this Tarantula-hawk Wasp photo that I took in the West Desert of Utah for about a year, and today is as good a day as any.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":116755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14411,358,26,1314],"tags":[3940,1799,4069,14412,4289,10452,2315,14418,14419,14413,14420,14417],"class_list":["post-116766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thisbes-tarantula-hawk-wasps","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-canyon","tag-insects","tag-mountains","tag-pepsis-thisbe","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-sky-island-mountains","tag-summer-3","tag-tarantula-hawk-wasp","tag-tarantula-hawk-wasps","tag-thisbes-tarantula-hawk-wasp","tag-wasp","tag-wasps"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Thisbes-Tarantula-hawk-Wasp-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-1383.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-unk","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":73662,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/11\/my-first-desert-tarantula-sighting-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":116766,"position":0},"title":"My First Desert Tarantula Sighting In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I was so excited that I was shaking because the creature I had found was a Desert Tarantula which was my first sighting of one in Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Desert Tarantulas"","block_context":{"text":"Desert Tarantulas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/desert-tarantulas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Desert Tarantula walking on a dirt road, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/desert-tarantula-male-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1074.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/desert-tarantula-male-stansbury-mountains-mia-mcpherson-1074.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-post-mia-mcpherson-2322.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-post-mia-mcpherson-2322.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-post-mia-mcpherson-2322.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/red-tailed-hawk-immature-post-mia-mcpherson-2322.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":153304,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/08\/23\/horse-guard-wasp-on-water-smartweed\/","url_meta":{"origin":116766,"position":3},"title":"Horse Guard Wasp On Water Smartweed","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I spotted a Horse Guard Wasp nectaring on Water Smartweed at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, and of course I had to photograph the wasp.","rel":"","context":"In "Horse Guard Wasps"","block_context":{"text":"Horse Guard Wasps","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/horse-guard-wasps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Horse Guard Wasp nectaring on a Water Smartweed, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/horse-guard-wasp-water-smartweed-mia-mcpherson-7015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/horse-guard-wasp-water-smartweed-mia-mcpherson-7015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Ferruginous Hawk","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Nearly three years have passed since I found, pointed out, and photographed this stunning dark morph Ferruginous Hawk in the West Desert of Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dark morph Ferruginous Hawk lifting one foot, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-4399.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/ferruginous-hawk-dark-morph-mia-mcpherson-4399.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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