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Spider Wasp

What is spider wasp?

· Sarah Mitchell

Key facts

Family Pompilidae[1]
Common name Spider wasps[1]
Number of species About 5,000[1]
Distribution Cosmopolitan[1]
Prey Spiders[2]

Spider wasps are solitary wasps in the family Pompilidae that hunt and paralyze spiders to feed their larvae.

Context

Spider wasps belong to the family Pompilidae and are known for their hunting behavior. They are solitary insects, with each female working alone to capture and paralyze spiders for her offspring. Unlike social wasps, they do not form colonies. They are found worldwide and are not considered economically destructive. They are sometimes confused with the wasp spider, a type of orb-weaver. Spider wasps are related to other parasitic wasps that also use hosts for their larvae. [1]

Documented claims

  • Spider wasps are solitary and each female provisions her own nest. [3]
  • They paralyze spiders and lay an egg on each one, which the larva feeds on. [2]

Related

  • Paper WaspPaper wasps are a common type of wasp that readers may want to compare with spider wasps.
  • Ichneumon WaspIchneumon wasps are another parasitoid wasp family, closely related in behavior to spider wasps.

Questions and answers

Do spider wasps sting humans?

Yes, they can sting if handled or threatened, but they are not aggressive and rarely sting unless provoked [4].

Are spider wasps in Canada?

Spider wasps are found worldwide, including in Canada, as they have a cosmopolitan distribution [1].

What do spider wasps do with spiders?

They paralyze spiders and use them as food for their larvae, laying one egg per spider [2].

Sources

  1. Pompilidae: Spider Wasps - Hortsense — hortsense.cahnrs.wsu.edu (retrieved August 3, 2026)
  2. Spider Wasp | NC State Extension - Entomology — entomology.ces.ncsu.edu (retrieved August 3, 2026)
  3. Spider Wasp - Yard and Garden - Iowa State University — yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu (retrieved August 3, 2026)
  4. Spider wasps - The Australian Museum — australian.museum (retrieved August 3, 2026)

Sources last checked August 3, 2026. · More in Things