Its sting is described as "blinding, fierce and shockingly electric" and is rated near the top on the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, second only to that of the bullet ant. Fortunately for the Tarantula Hawk, its extremely large stingers are off-putting to most predators.

To give you an idea of how metal these wasps are, they literally use a paralysed spider as a nursery for their newborns. After the female wasp has injected her venom into the tarantula, she drags it back into its own burrow and lays an egg on it. Her children are born atop an enormous, fresh food source. Before they’ve even had time to process being alive, they’re feasting on the still-functioning vital organs of a spider.