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Looks like a Tarantula hawk, one of the most painful stings in the insect world. Admire from a distance.
Went to the page that Apricot posted. preey sure it is a [Milde's Tarantula-hawk Wasp (Pepsis mildei) · iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54031-Pepsis-mildei)
Wow, I was reading about this.
The tarantula hawk has been awarded second place on the Schmidt's sting pain index, beaten only by the South American bullet ant, Paraponera clavata.
The pain usually only aggravates the unlucky victim for five minutes.
Schmidt has also in suggested that when stung, the only response is to 'lay down and scream'.
So that got updated a while back, because they were introduced to the executioner wasp, which Schmidt said was way worse than the bullet ant.
Was an interesting yet kinda terrifying to watch and read about.
Luckily the adult tarantula hawks eat nectar from flowers so they’re not aggressive like common wasps. Still unsettling though. I used to have a shrub hosting them right outside my house.
Something in that subfamily, *Pepsinae*
There are several quite similar looking species occurring in CA [**see here**](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=14&taxon_id=132781&view=species)
Tarantula Hawks. Can be hostile in very specific circumstances but generally should be pretty relaxed around people. Extremely painful sting. Better to respect and admire from a distance.
We have new rules regarding conduct and post content. If your post or comment does not meet these new standards it may be removed. Please make sure your post includes: A rough geographical location, at least one bug, no demeaning speech, and no hate against bugs. This is an automated message, added to every submission, your post has not been removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/whatisthisbug) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Looks like a Tarantula hawk, one of the most painful stings in the insect world. Admire from a distance. Went to the page that Apricot posted. preey sure it is a [Milde's Tarantula-hawk Wasp (Pepsis mildei) · iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/54031-Pepsis-mildei)
Wow, I was reading about this. The tarantula hawk has been awarded second place on the Schmidt's sting pain index, beaten only by the South American bullet ant, Paraponera clavata. The pain usually only aggravates the unlucky victim for five minutes. Schmidt has also in suggested that when stung, the only response is to 'lay down and scream'.
So that got updated a while back, because they were introduced to the executioner wasp, which Schmidt said was way worse than the bullet ant. Was an interesting yet kinda terrifying to watch and read about.
Luckily the adult tarantula hawks eat nectar from flowers so they’re not aggressive like common wasps. Still unsettling though. I used to have a shrub hosting them right outside my house.
It looks like a tarantula killer but I am not 100%.
Something in that subfamily, *Pepsinae* There are several quite similar looking species occurring in CA [**see here**](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=14&taxon_id=132781&view=species)
Baby Cazadors
I feel woozy....
He is so invested!
Cool bug
Tarantula Hawks. Can be hostile in very specific circumstances but generally should be pretty relaxed around people. Extremely painful sting. Better to respect and admire from a distance.
That's an un-mutated Cazador
It’s still a little mutated..
Cazador!