Largest wasp

The largest wasp – and the largest of all the hymenoptera order – is the giant tarantula-hawk wasp (Pepsis heros), the largest specimen of which is a female from the Yanachaga-Chemillén National Park in Peru with a wingspan of 121.5 mm (4.75 in) and a curved body length of c. 62 mm (2.25 in). Females are considerably larger than males. The name is a reference to the wasp preying on the Goliath bird-eating spider and other tarantula species. The wasp grabs the spider in its jaws and paralyses it with its sting; it then drags it back to its nest, lays an egg on its body, and seals it into the nest, where the newly hatched wasp larvae feed on the still-living spider.