You know what’s kinda scary? Tarantula hawks. They’re beautiful and interesting to watch and will completely leave you alone if you leave them alone, but they’re also big and rank really high on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index. Know what’s even scarier? Finding this on your kitchen counter one morning when you’re on your way to make a much needed caffeinated beverage:
Dead tarantula hawk
Dead tarantula hawks in the house mean that live tarantula hawks were flying around inside your house at one point. *Shudder*
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The Dragonfly Woman 
Wasps are the one insect group I’m genuinely afraid of. Still beautiful.
Most insects actually don’t bother me, but centipedes… I believe you teased me for being scared of the frozen one in my freezer once. :) If you’re going to be scared of an insects, being scared of wasps is definitely one of more logical ones. At least there’s some actual pain/danger involved in coming into contact with them.
Oh my goodness, I saw one of these over Thanksgiving break at Boyce Thompson Arboretum and had no idea what it was (well, beyond some kind of wasp)! So cool that it hunts tarantulas.
Wow, they were still out in late November?! Crazy year for bugs! I think I should do a whole post on tarantula hawks sometime because they’re really cool wasps.