Anoplius sp. “Blue-black Spider Wasps” Pompilidae
Missoula, MT
June 29, 2014
Robert Niese
These lovely wasps are vicious spider hunters and have an absolutely gruesome life cycle. Instead of immediately killing their quarry, females paralyze the spider with a sting, and drag it down into a burrow. There, the female will lay eggs inside the spider, where her young will hatch and feed on the poor arachnid from the inside-out. Interestingly, spider wasps are nectivorous and lose their hunger for arachnid flesh at adulthood.
Northwest Naturalist 