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Late-September, 2008 JAPAN
The female spider wasp hunted a jumping spider and stored it in an empty cell.
The process of entombing the prey.
Completely buried with dirt. Day 0
Day 7
I broke the dirt nest-Sc to examine inside.
Excavation completed.
I also captured a female spider wasp (Auplopus sp.) on the nest-Sc.
A grown larva of the spider wasp found in a chamber of the nest. No leftover food was found.
This chamber contained a cocoon.
What's inside?
The cocoon was dissected ...
... to retrieve a prepupa.
A paralyzed jumping spider was rescued from the newest chamber.
The prey was an adult female jumping spider (Evarcha albaria).
The female wasp had laid a white egg on the left side of spider's abdomen.
Unearthed contents from the dirt nest-Sc.
Day 8
Her legs twitched faintly in response to my stimulus.
She wasn't dead but only paralyzed by the wasp's sting.
Day 13
The prey was still alive.
Day 16
The naked prepupa was moving without the cocoon.
Day 19
You can see her genital pores (epigynum) on the belly.
The wasp's egg was dried up?
Still alive.
Day 28
She was still alive for 4 weeks without food and water.
The prepupa was moving.
Will it transform into a pupa/adult after overwintering?
Thanks for watching!