Re: black widows & wasps

**"* <t*@earthlink.net>**

I don't know what that wasp is either, but we have either the same wasp here 
in California, or one that's closely related....and all it eats is spiders, 
any kind of spider. I've been seeing these wasps in the garden again this 
summer, and have seen them kill large spiders. They are uncommonly strong 
too, and can carry off a spider that looks to weigh more than they do.
  Of course wasps killing spiders in nothing new...out in the desert I often 
see tarantula hawk wasps....black and orange and huge....and they make their 
living killing tarantulas.
  On a side note...many lizards will eat spiders, including black widows. In 
particular good at getting into the sort of spots that black widows like are 
alligator lizards, and all species of skinks. Some lizards also eat 
scorpions.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@bellsouth.net>
To: "Garden Writers -- GWL -- The Garden Writers Forum" 
<gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 8:43 PM
Subject: Re: [GWL] black widows

> On 6/22/2012 12:46 PM, Mitch Shirts wrote:
>> Any suggestions for getting rid of Black widows? Are there any natural
>> predators?
>
> YES!
>
> If you are in North Carolina you will see a type of wasp (dirt dauber?)
> that builds a clay-based (any kind of clay) tubular lump of a nest that
> they attach to just about any surface, nearly always out of the weather,
> indoors if they have access. This nest is a short roundish
> rough-surfaced lump, flat where it is attached to a metal, plastic or
> wood surface. I had them build nearly a dozen nests inside a large
> wood-cutting bandsaw, discovered when I moved the machine.
>
> I broke some of them apart and discovered literally hundreds of small
> paralyzed baby black widow spiders inside. This wasp had been foraging
> for them, capturing the young either just before or after hatching from
> their nests to store for food.
>
> This is a small, non-stinging, fast moving wasp, mostly black, tinged
> with iridescence if I remember correctly.
>
> This would be a good subject for an entomological research paper.
>
> What a friend this wasp, a real friend! If you see their nests leave
> them where they are for free world-class pest control. I imagine they
> exist in many areas of the United States.
>
> I have never heard of alligator lizards in NC but we do have an
> abundance of skinks. Maybe they like black widows too. Severely cold
> winters in the South will reduce their populations but they are still
> always around and are to be scrupulously avoided. Eternal vigilance is
> the word of the day. Never put hands or feet in places where you cannot
> see all surfaces very clearly.
>
>> I'm in the suburbs of San Diego and recently I've seen a bunch in
>> my yard. I've got kids at home that like to roam my garden and pick and 
>> eat
>> fruit and I don't want them to get bitten, but I also don't want to spray
>> any hard core chemicals if I can help it.
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