Tarantula hawks are most active in the summer, during the day, although they avoid
the highest temperatures. Females give the wasps their common name. Like all members
of this genus, they require a spider to serve as host for their larvae, and in the
case of the local species, tarantulas are the preferred nursery.

A female wasp finds a tarantula by smell. Generally, she scampers across the ground
to locate a burrow. She will enter the burrow and expel the spider, then attack it.
She may also encounter a male tarantula during his search for a mate. In an attack,
the wasp uses her antennae to probe the spider, which may raise its front legs and
bare its fangs. (A tarantula does not always counterattack.) She then attempts to
sting the spider. She might seize the spider by a leg, flip it over on its back and
sting it, or she may approach from the side to deliver a sting. Once stung, the
tarantula becomes paralyzed within seconds. The condition will last for the remainder
of its life. The wasp may drink the body fluids oozing from the spider’s wounds or from
its mouth to replenish nutrients and water she used during the attack.

If the wasp expelled her victim, she will drag it back into its own burrow, now a burial
vault, lay a single egg on the spider’s abdomen, then seal the chamber. If the wasp
succeeds in stinging a male tarantula on a mating hunt, she will excavate a burrow,
drag the paralyzed spider inside, lay her single egg, and seal the chamber.