Filmed on 20 July 2020; published on 26 October 2020
Location: Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, Simi Valley, California

• VIDEO BY ALICE
• SUMMARY OF THE VIDEO
  • Photos by Alice

Dear Ones,

Here is a video of tarantula hawk courtship. From my research, I feel that the larger tarantula wasps may be females, and the smaller males …

Link:  “Tarantula Hawk Wasps (Pepsis spp.) in Godofinsects … http://www.godofinsects.com/index.php/museum/bees-wasps-and-ants/tarantula-hawk-wasps-pepsis-spp/ ..

At the end of the video is a short series of slow motion video clips. Tarantula hawks are solitary wasps whose sting is very venomous. I feel it may be for that reason that their courtship may involve the minimum of physical contact. It could be that otherwise, there might be fatal mating accidents.

Thus you may notice, in the slow motion video clips, that there is the barest instant of physical contact, and that the bodies of the male and female tarantula hawk are separated by their being on either side of the narrow leafed milkweed flower.

As the video has no words, the Summary contains only photos …

VIDEO BY ALICE

SUMMARY OF THE VIDEO

Photos by Alice

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 1,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 2,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 3,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 4,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 5,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 6,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 7,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 8,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 9,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 10,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 11,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: “Victory Trailhead, Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve: Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis mildei) 12,” by Alice B. Clagett, 20 July 2020, CC BY-SA 4.0

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In love, light and joy
I Am of the Stars

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Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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nature, insects, tarantula hawks, solitary wasps, photos by Alice, Pepsis, narrow leaf milkweed, Asclepias fascicularis,