Pepsis thisbe

Pepsis thisbe, also known as Thisbe's tarantula-hawk wasp, is a species of spider wasp in the family Pompilidae. Females are 32-44 mm long with a dark blue body and orange wings.

Description

The females of this species sport curly antennae, while the males' are straight. Males do not have stingers and females have ones about 7mm in length. Adults are nectarivores, but females hunt tarantulas as food for larvae, hence their name. They are found throughout the Southwestern [United States|American Southwest] in desert areas.