Pepsis heros LARGE Tropical Giant Wasp Tarantula Hawks Insect Hymenopterus

Pepsis heros Giant Wasp Tarantula cm 3.5-4 wing span cm 7-8 LARGE Tropical Insect Giant Wasp Tarantula Hawks Hymenopterus.
Family: Pompilidae, Subfamily:  Pepsinae.

Pepsis is a genus of spider wasps belonging to the Pompilidae family.
Species within this genus are also called tarantula hawks, as they usually hunt these spiders in order to reproduce. Pepsis heros is one of the largest parasitoid wasps, which use their sting to paralyze their prey before dragging it into a brood nest as living food. Only one egg is laid on the prey, which hatches releasing a larva. This creates a small hole in the spider's abdomen, then enters and eats voraciously, avoiding vital organs for as long as possible to keep the spider alive and thus complete its life cycle.
Common species are up to 5cm long, making them among the largest wasps. The vivid coloration found on their bodies, and particularly on the wings, is aposematism, which advertises the threat of a powerful sting to potential predators. Their long legs have hooked claws to fight with their victims. A female's sting can be up to 7mm long and can cause one of the most painful insect bites in the world, although females are not very aggressive, as they hesitate to sting without provocation. The intense pain only lasts about five minutes, and one researcher described the pain as "... immediate, stabbing, relentless pain that disrupts one's ability to do anything but scream." In terms of scale, this wasp's sting is ranked in the upper extreme of Schmidt's pain index, second only to that of the bullet ant, and is described by Schmidt as "blinding, ferocious and incredibly electric." Because of their extremely large stingers, very few animals are able to eat them; one of the few who can is the roadrunner. Many predatory animals avoid these wasps, and many different insects mimic them, including various other wasps and bees (Müllerian mimicry), as well as moths, flies, and beetles (Batesian mimicry). Aside from the possibility of triggering an allergic reaction, the sting is not dangerous and requires no medical attention. Local redness appears in most cases after the pain and lasts up to a week.
Pepsis feeds on fermented fruit, which sometimes intoxicates it to the point that flying becomes difficult. They are found on all continents except Antarctica.
The US state of New Mexico in 1989 chose the P. formosa species, now known as P. grossa, as its official state insect. Its selection was solicited by a group of elementary school children who were conducting research on states that had adopted insects.