Talk:Tarantula hawk

message: I noticed there is a very similar article on pepsis grossa: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsis_grossa. The scientific classification is not really matching. Is this the same species or not?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:A61:12AF:1C01:2070:7130:1679:3588 (talk) 07:47, 20 October 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  The sting aside 

message: I suppose it would be too much to ask for attribution for those three "stinging testimonials" in the article?  They sound like they were lifted out of an article in a children's magazine.  --Ardonik.talk()* July 3, 2005 11:10 (UTC)
: How so? Simply because they may sound immature does not mean that they are useful quotes? They DO emphasize how painful the sting must be. After all, they ARE quotes. - Xer0X 13:58, 11 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I also particularly love the explanation of larva feeding on the spider 216.79.252.71 10:26, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: The stinging quotes

message: The sting comments aside, the description is thorough and pleasing, though a picture would be nice, they are spectacular wasps - I was especially pleased to read of their nectivory, an important point in assuaging fears of encountering one of these invertebrate gods and goddesses 69.3.185.112 01:25, 15 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  The sting aside 

message: Obviously the spider dies at some point, but the following unsourced sentence seems self-contradictory:
"After the larva grows a bit, the spider dies and the larva plunges into the spider's body and feeds voraciously, avoiding vital organs for as long as possible to keep it fresh."
The part about 'avoiding vital organs' seems meaningless if the spider is already dead, and is, in fact, a hold-over from a version where the spider's death was not mentioned. I'll try researching the life-cycle a little bit more, if no one else comes up with something that's more consistant. Marieblasdell 04:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Parts of invertebrates body may still function after they're dead; the heart may still pump even though the spider can't possibly move anymore, for example.  Does that mean it's still alive?  It's hard to say.  66.75.246.149 00:52, 8 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Live or dead spiders? 

message: I don't trust the following unsourced sentence:
"Their large stingers are considered defensive adaptations for living in the open, where they are prone to predators."
Considering that they use the stinger on a very large creature--the tarantula--it seems plausible that the stinger might be large for that reason. Again, if no one else comes up with something, I'll try to research it. Marieblasdell 04:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Purpose of large stinger? 

message: Would experts really advise people to swing at these insects and throw objects at them to avoid being stung? All the advice I've heard for other stinging insects (and admittedly, I'm no expert) has boiled down to a variation on "don't bother them and they won't bother you." It almost seems like someone's trying to get people stung with the advice in this article. But I could be wrong.
:Thanks for bringing that up. Taking a fast look at the article, I think people have been vandalizing, or at least, editing irresponsibly. I'm going to go through and weed out some of the more dubious stuff.Marieblasdell 23:17, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Advice for avoiding being stung? 

message: I'm running through the article and removing unsourced things that don't seem believable. 
Here's a list, just in case I've been too skeptical about anything.
1: Reference to tarantula hawks as being called 'Flying Cougars'.
2: Reference to tarantula hawks attacking lots of people in July, 2007. 
3: Very counter-productive advice against getting stung.
4: The idea that their large stinger is to protect them from predators.
5: That bullfrogs are a tarantula hawk predator. Marieblasdell 23:30, 26 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Assorted edits 

message: This article says that the sting from Tarantula hawk is the most painful sting. This is incorrect according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Zybez (talk • contribs) 23:06, 28 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Not the most painful sting 

message: However, during the insect's reproductive season male tarantulas are usually emaciated from ignoring food while searching for females.
Why would tarantulas be searching for females during the wasp's reproductive season? Why should their mating seasons coincide? Or is the word "insect" here meant to refer to tarantulas? If that's the case, arthropods are not insects. --75.63.48.18 (talk) 04:25, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: *No, the statement makes perfect sense and is scientifically correct. However, during the insect's reproductive season male tarantulas are usually emaciated from ignoring food while searching for females. Explaining, during the insect's (the tarantula hawk, the focus of the article) reproductive season male tarantulas (the actual spider) are usually emaciated from ignoring food.... Tanthalas39 (talk) 08:57, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: *Further clarification. Why should their mating seasons coincide? This question has no bearing on the actual facts at hand. You can ask why most of the information here happens, and there's larger, more unknown knowledge that is needed. However, per the references at hand, this is the way it happens. Tanthalas39 (talk) 09:02, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ambiguity 

message: "While the wasps tend to be most active in daytime summer months, they tend to avoid the very highest temperatures."
Are these insects strictly diurnal, or are they also nocturnal? 24.255.25.146 (talk) 20:21, 3 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Only diurnal?

message: The lead says it's a species, but then says it's in two genera. Later on the article talks about 250 species. The taxobox focuses on tribe Pepsini. The wikilink to genus Pepsis redirects straight back to this article. --Stfg (talk) 17:32, 24 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Taxonomy needs attention 

message: Is this the specific critter that was the inspiration for the movie "Alien"? There are references on Wikipedia and elsewhere to several possible candidates, but this one seems the most likely.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 101.161.177.192 (talk) 10:33, 10 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Alien"? 

message: : Hi, you can use this photo if you want… some folks in the science desk liked it… and as it show a tarantula haw struggling with a tarantula in the act … 
: Also someone ask me for a location in order to identify the wasp… it was taken in Cuba, Artemisa, a country town… this was the position: 22g 48'39.98"N 82g 44'55.05"W
:Iskánder Vigoa Pérez (talk) 19:43, 27 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: photo

message: Currently the article says that the Tarantula hawk is "very aggressive" and that it is "relatively docile". Clearly a contradiction. Which is it? Jason Quinn (talk) 18:30, 26 April 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Docile or aggressive? 

message: The article formerly stated (and had for quite a while, to my memory) that the northernmost range was in Kirkland, Washington. I believe an older version said Lakewood, Washington. The linked source states the northernmost range is in Utah, which is very far south of Washington. Is there a non-Wikipedia source somewhere placing them in Washington State? 
The closest I could find was this KIRO news article from Lakewood, but even that says it was identified to be a hornback wasp, not a tarantula hawk. --Bristlemouth (talk) 07:30, 21 January 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree.  I had tagged that section as needing sources last year.  If no new ones have been found, I would recommend that you go ahead and change it to what the current sources actually say. Scr★pIronIV 14:30, 21 January 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Northernmost range 

message: Has there been any investigation of the chemistry of these creatures' venom, that could be added here?
Also, I strongly suspect that "Eighteen species of Pepis ..." in the "Distribution" section ought to be "Eighteen species of Pepsis ...", so I'll change this. Rt3368 (talk) 00:10, 25 June 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Chemistry? 

message: It's known that the Tarantula Hawk is the third most painful insect sting in the world, only behind the Bullet Ant and Warrior Wasp, making the Warrior Wasp the most painful.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3764171/Like-chained-flow-active-volcano-Scientist-reveals-warrior-wasp-attack-worst-insect-world-stung-thousand-times-85-different-insects.html
While the Warrior wasp sting is agreed to be the most painful, though only lasts up to 2.5 hours, and the Bullet Ant sting pain lasts up to 24 hours.
And while the top of the page says the Tarantula Hawk pain is third behind the Bullet Ant and Warrior Wasp, the line on the lower part of the page says the Tarantula Hawk is the second most painful, only behind the Bullet Ant, and doesn't say the Warrior Wasp top.
There's no way the Tarantula Hawk can be second most painful and third most painful for insect stings at the same time.
It's one or the other, it can't be both second and third.
Yet after Justin Schmidt got stung by a Warrior Wasp in 2016, he put it on the top of the list, putting the Bullet Ant at second place.
There's really nothing to do about the list, unless Schmidt decided to change the list, but it takes him experiencing stings to do that.
If the Tarantula Hawk is third place in insect stings, it's third place.
So there's a loophole on the middle of the page, it clearly states in reality that the Tarantula Hawk sting is the third most painful in the insect world, only behind that of the Bullet Ant and Warrior Wasp.
His list is official.
:And his list, which is not "official" in any sense, is the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, published in 1983, and it does not include Synoeca - the person who reported on Synoeca stings and rated them as a "4" was Christopher Starr, who copied Schmidt's list and added to it, calling his version the Starr sting pain scale, in 1985. If you are trying to cite anyone regarding Synoeca stings, you are citing the wrong person, and the wrong pain scale (so much for anything being "official"). Both scales are a single person's subjective opinions regarding how they personally perceive the pain. They're for the popular press, and not scientific. Furthermore, the popular article you cite has misidentified photographs (the wasp IDed there as Synoeca is not even in the same family) among other errors, and is not a reliable source. Dyanega (talk) 22:37, 29 March 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tarantula Hawk Sting at Third Place Not Second Place 

message: This article references the fact that the binomial name for the subject Tarantula Hawk species was renamed from "Pepsis formosa" to "Pepsis grossa", but includes no explanation for why this took place or the story surrounding the process (for example, who proposed the change and for what reason, how the request was evaluated, and what body ultimately accepted the change and why they did so.)  I think that this information would be desirable and useful for Wikipedia users.  It is the main question I took away after reading this otherwise informative article.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.54.253.142 (talk) 09:42, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: First, there are many other tarantula hawks species besides Pepsis grossa. Second, that species has its own article, and the explanation for the name change is linked there. This is the article for ALL the different tarantula hawks, and details about individual species are not generally going to be relevant here. Dyanega (talk) 17:45, 7 January 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Change of Species Name: Should the Article Include an Explanation