Editing Tarantula hawk (section)

==Behavior==
The female tarantula hawk wasp stings a tarantula between the legs, paralyzing it, and then drags the prey to a specially prepared burrow, where a single [[egg (biology)|egg]] is laid on the spider's abdomen, and the burrow entrance is covered.<ref name="BBC Earth 2015">{{cite web | title=The wasp that kills tarantulas | website=BBC Earth | date=13 January 2015  | url=http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150109-the-wasp-that-scares-tarantulas | access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref> Sex of offspring is determined by fertilization; fertilized eggs produce females, while unfertilized eggs produce males.<ref name="BBC Earth 2015"/> When the wasp [[larva]] hatches, it creates a small hole in the spider's [[abdomen]], then enters and feeds voraciously, avoiding vital [[organ (anatomy)|organ]]s for as long as possible to keep the spider alive.<ref name="BBC Earth 2015"/> After several weeks, the larva [[pupa]]tes. Finally, the wasp becomes an adult and emerges from the spider's abdomen to continue the life cycle.

Adult tarantula hawks are [[nectarivorous]]. While the wasps tend to be most active in the daytime in summer, they tend to avoid high temperatures. The male tarantula hawk does not hunt. Both males and females feed on the flowers of [[milkweeds]], [[western soapberry]] trees, or [[mesquite]] trees.<ref name="desertmuseum">{{cite book |editor1-last=Phillips |editor1-first=Steven J. |editor2-last=Comus |editor2-first=Patricia Wentworth |title=A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert |url=https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00ariz |url-access=registration |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=2000 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/naturalhistoryof00ariz/page/464 464–466] |isbn=0-520-21980-5}}</ref> Male tarantula hawks have been observed practicing a behavior called [[Hill-topping (biology)|hill-topping]], in which they sit atop tall plants and watch for passing females ready to reproduce. The males can become resident defenders of the favorable reproduction spots for hours into the afternoon.<ref>{{cite journal
| last1      = Alcock
| first1     = J.
| date       = 2017
| title      = A long-term study of male territoriality in the tarantula hawk wasp (''Hemipepsis ustulata''; Pompilidae) in Central Arizona
| journal    = The Southwestern Naturalist
| volume     = 62 
| issue      = 2
| pages      = 109–112
| doi        = 10.1894/0038-4909-62.2.109
| s2cid = 90778145
| name-list-style = vanc
}}</ref> Females are not very aggressive, in that they are hesitant to sting, but the sting is extraordinarily painful.<ref name=Starr1985/>