Spider Wasp

Yesterday was a perfect example for my August 26 post, Blog Before You Party. I guess I haven't really learned that yet since I forgot to blog before I went to a party last night.
But, what I learned today and what I learned yesterday sort of coincide. Here's how.
Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in my backyard, painting my toenails so I'd have cute feet at this BBQ I was going to. When I got to my last little piggy, I noticed a very shiny, big, black bug on the ground. It looked like a wasp but it was very black and with blue stripes intead of the usual yellow. Then I noticed the grossest thing; it was attached to the HUGEST spider! I couldn't tell if the spider had the bug or the bug had the spider, until it became obvious that this wasp thingy was dragging the spider across the ground. It was so disgusting yet so intriguing, that I couldn't take my eyes off it. I followed it all the way across the lawn, over to our firewood pile, up a post, across the wood shed, onto the fence and over the other side. It was amazing. I don't know how it ever got up that post, going backwards no less.
This thing had purpose. Strength. Drive. Intent. It knew exactly what it was doing and where it was going. I was impressed in so many ways.
So now it was a 1/2 hour later and I had grass marks on my pink toes with no time to fix them or to blog. I was already at my usual and fashionable one hour lateness and then I didn't get home until after midnight. It was then, today, early this morning, that I found out about this insect on the internet.

From late spring to early autumn, across North America, there is a female wasp that hunts spiders, mainly wolf or funnel web spiders. First she stings the spider, which doesn't kill it but paralyzes it, then she drags it to her nest where she'll lay an egg on it. When the larva hatches, it will eat the still living spider. The one I saw was called a Blue-Black Spider Wasp.


I swear I feel something crawling on me everytime I think about it.