The tarantula hawk wasp Hemipepsis ustulata is a lek-forming insect whose males defend certain conspicuous shrubs and trees growing on mountain ridges in Arizona, even though these plants provide no resources of utility to males or females (Alcock, 1979, 1981).
Lek territoriality in a tarantula hawk wasp Hemipepsis ustulata (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae).
Hilltopping behaviour and mating success of the tarantula hawk wasp, Hemipepsis ustulata (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), at a high elevation peak.
Although in 1 y (1998) all figures were higher (except for the average tenure of resident males), in the other 5 y of the study the population of tarantula hawk wasps behaved very similarly, such that the various parameters measured were highly similar from year to year.
Similarity in the distribution of male sizes probably stems from a similar distribution in prey sizes selected by female tarantula hawk wasps from year to year, as the weight of the offspring is almost certainly largely a function of the amount of provisions provided by its mother (Dow, 1942; Klostermeyer et al., 1973; Roulston and Cane, 2000).
There are 100,000 species of wasp across the world - from the common yellow jacket to the fearsome tarantula
hawk wasp - and 9,000 different types in the UK.
female hawk wasp can paralyze a spider with her sting.
Or maybe you're thinking of hawk wasps, which really are wasps