Down at Coogoorah Park recently I saw a wasp doing a mighty job of dragging a stunned Huntsman spider, bigger than itself, over very rough terrain, and into some vegetation.
There the spider would be entombed and the wasp would lay an egg on it, so that the developing larva would have plenty of food. Similar wasp species build the mud nests on house walls, cliff faces and such like.
I sent some pictures of the wasp to the Melbourne Museum, and received the following reply: ‘The wasp is a species of spider hunting wasp from the family Pompilidae, … and judging by what we have in the collection, looks to be a species from the genus Sphictostethus – there are 13 species from this genus found in Australia.’
Neil Tucker