Black Wasp
Already debilitated but job not done yet. Wasp resumes work on dismembering spider.
*Click on the pictures for a proper look … and click again
Powerful and efficient butcher, the wasp takes no chances and makes no mistakes.
Resumes her butchery in a forceful manner, expressive of her no-nonsense ways.
She inspects spider to maintain methodology, removing those long and – could be – deadly legs.
Using her wings now to increase traction on the object of her desire. Time is of the essence.
Spiders legs can often regrow, but not this time … Severing another leg to make flying easier.
Change of position, having a go at the deadly mandibles, which may still be a threat – if only to her young.
Job almost done, package nearly ready, she prepares to carry spider away to her home in the BBB’s nest.
Spider legs strewn about. Package almost ready to fly. One last go at those venom packed mandibles.
I was pottering around the house and saw this Huntsman limping along the ground.
Limping because some legs were missing and it couldn’t run as Huntsmen do so well.
Limping out into open space when ordinarily it would be in the opposite direction, under cover.
So, thinking it might be confused (for some reason), I gave it a nudge towards the undergrowth.
But it wasn’t having it, kept on heading out into open space and nothing I could do about it.
Then the black wasp with yellow antennae showed up and attacked the spider with a will.
It had already been working on it, spider confused by venom but not yet subdued.
So she, the wasp, stung the spider again, and again, and proceeded to dismember it.
To carry it away to her nest at the edge of the garden, to feed her young.
What they do, we do … our existential nature.
© Mark Berkery … Click on those pictures for a closer look … and click again.
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Nature's Place 
Amazing photos, thank you. Wasps are minimalist perfection.
Thanks Mike.
Wasps are crazy!! I had one dive bomb me repeatedly against my straw hat because I deadheaded the flower she’d made home. My yardwork uniform is wasp-proof but I took off running just the same. She chased me up to the pond then back to the garage, where I finally took shelter indoors. Ten minutes later I went back out and she was there waiting, still full of fury and still on the attack. How such a tiny brain can hold vengeance for so long is beyond me.
“How such a tiny brain can hold vengeance for so long is beyond me.”
Some wasp species are particularly persistent, the paper wasp for instance requires very delicate handling – if any handling at all. I certainly wouldn’t rob her home in broad daylight.
Some people manage to pass on their prejudices from generation to generation. At least the individual wasp does move on, if only for survivals sake, albeit instinctively.
Absolutely great, a whole Story.
Question remains: Who told the wasp the program??
Who made the questioner? Or the ‘I’ behind the questioner?
There remains a mystery to be realised, but perhaps not known.
Great shots! Unbelievable that this bee is flying away with the spider. The spider looks huge. Yes, they do what we do. Amazing photos.
Thanks Almuth. I know the wasp will fly much of the way home with it but often see them just carrying their prey home along the surface.
We know that ants can carry a lot of weight, but I never saw anything like that with a wasp. You never know with nature :-) She does things we can’t imagine.
We can do one better than imagine, we can observe. As long as there’s insects (nature) about.
Interesting!
Indeed …
Amazing, yet somehow a little creepy! You have an extraordinary amount of patience.
Amazing nature in the raw, our nature.
Engrossing photos, and story.
Thanks Michael. Nature is an unfolding epic, over a cup of tea.
Exquisite photos.
Thanks David.
I Made some pics in September Last year. A
Wasp attacking a worm. it bite a piece out of it and flew away. I took the worm with a Leaf and set it down a few metres away.
The wasp came back and searched the Ground for at least 10 Minutes. Back and forth, in an area of 4 metres x 4 metres.never flew to the place where the worm actually was.
A few metres away is a long distance to a wasp.
What a startlingly efficient little butcher she is. And what an exceptional photographic sequence.
A no-nonsense mom. Thanks K…
Yet another fantastic set of photos!
Thanks Tish.