Pepsis Wasps AKA Tarantula Hawks Slow Motion Flight

[unclebobpart2]

Sloppy wing fooies! This wasp is probably a wetback.

[frostbackt]

These wasps are males. You can tell by the straight antennae. Females have coiled ones. Really. And males don't have stingers. But the females sometimes feed on these blossoms, too.

[Babyhowdy233]

This is really spectacular footage! :D

[jcmegabyte]

@Babyhowdy233 Glad you enjoyed - thanks for stopping by! =)

[suicidesnowman14]

i remember seeing this fly above my head while fishing. "HOLY SHIT:!!!

[JCMDIweirdStuff]

@suicidesnowman14 There's something about that deep buzzing sound so close that really makes you want to run for cover! XD Thanks for stopping by! =)

[ReturdedMofo2]

This music makes me feel like I'm watching old school porn

[bigsky89]

lol cazadores, IRL.

[eumaroca]

great work as usual!! thank you for posting!!! shared on my facebook as usual too!!! xx

[JCMDIweirdStuff]

Thanks so much for the view, nice comment and share - much appreciated! =)

[hatersdonthate12]

i would hate to get stung or bit by that wasp

[jcmegabyte]

No kidding - these are said to have one of the most painful stings in the insect world! :-O

[KlonoaTorqueBow]

I prefer these "Tarantula Hawks" over Cazadores.

[jcmegabyte]

I found that surprsing, too... These wasps seemed genuinely afraid of me, and left in a hurry whenever I got too close.

[MurkyMists]

Some great shots! i especially liked 1:12

[JCMDIweirdStuff]

Thanks a bunch for the view and kind words :-) I spent a few hours standing right in the middle of these bushes with these giant wasps buzzing all around, just to get these shots!

[mrjrob11]

so beautiful, so persice, :P i wanna touch it............... aww shit mother fucking basterd

[jguzzino]

a ONE MINUTE ad !!  BS!

[JCMDInature]

Wasn't there an option to skip the ad after about 5 seconds? I haven't seen one that long yet without a skip option...

[rexorrama]

I stung by one of these once, but it didn't hurt much more than getting hit by a truck while being shot by .45 bullets while on fire...

[jcmegabyte]

XD That must have been one of their mild stings!

[TheAmbitiousFish]

@rexorrama That's what their sting's described as, to put it lightly. They hurts like shit apparently. A friend of mine was stung by two of them and miraculously survived... But they had to SURGICALLY REMOVE the stingers.

[fram4153]

am I the only one who finds its flight path and turning radius in flight almost parallels a helicopter?

[JCMDIweirdStuff]

I'd say so... Most "buzzing" insects like this use a thrust vectoring technique to proprel themselves in different directions, which, with the exception of the rotary vs. reciprocating wing motion, is pretty similar to rotary-winged aircraft (helicopters). The flight maneuvering - especially in slow motion, is pretty interesting :-)

[redsoxman291]

I seriously thought that the first word in the title of this video was PENIS but then i realized it wasnt

[jcmegabyte]

Just the thought makes me cringe! XD I'm glad they prefer tarantulas! =)

[38Squid]

If you're doing your homework, why are you watching youtube videos? Aparently you are not doing a good job at spelling. Anyway, the first time I came across one of these HUGE wasps, I thought it was a hummingbird untill I saw the long legs trailing behind. Thank God these things are not as aggressive as other hornets.

[raman2212]

@38Squid

lol u nailed it man... i mean im just taking a small little break?

[revolutionalperson]

I really need to like V O M I T cause these videos gimme the creaps and im doing my homeqork :P

[skirts365]

National Geographic once showed a Brazilian tarantula hawk, not too different from Arizona types; red wings rather than dusty orange. On 2 occasions in New Mexico I had T hawks buzz past my head, no question as to correct identity, very loud buzz, powerful fliers and usually disinterested in people. Due to aggression, the common red wasp is usually more dangerous; and as reds are social, several may be attacking, yielding potentially a worse outcome than 1 T hawk sting. This is NM State bug!

[jcmegabyte]

I didn't see that NatGeo show but it sounds like it would have been interesting. Indeed these wasps are pretty common in the southwest US - I have been hiking around them all my life and they've never bothered me. They're rather skittish in most cases as well. I would definitely be much more concerned about a pack of aggressive smaller wasps! :-O

[Richardsh13]

it don't look so tuff !_!

[jcmegabyte]

It's true - they're not very aggressive and will almost always flee when approached (be humans)... However, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a trapped or defensive Tarantula Hawk's stinger! XD

[econoroller]

This wasp is slightly different than the ones I have seen in the Los Angeles area.

The ones I see are almost identical to this one, but are iridescent blue (almost metallic looking) and they have curled antennae that form spirals...both have the bright orange wings

[jcmegabyte]

That's very likely :-) There are at least three species in my area, and many more worldwide. Some have bright orange antennae while others have black ones, and the one's ive observed can curl/uncurl them at will, depending on how they are using them at the time. The amount of irridescent blue/purple on the bodies does vary a bit, too. Most of these wasps were deep irridescent velvet purple, but variations in the lighting makes it hard to tell in most scenes. Thanks for watching! =)

[econoroller]

@jcmegabyte thanx for the good info, they are fascinating creatures! Once one of them flew in the windwing of my old truck while I was going about 55mph.....it didn't kill it, but made it VERY angry.....It had nearly gone up my sleeve! the stinger looked to be about 1/4" long and it was looking for someone to pierce, luckily it wasn't me! I panic-stopped and opened both the doors and let it leave on it's own....it didn't want it to notice me and blame the whole incident on me!

[jcmegabyte]

I would definitely not want to be on the receiving end of an angry pepsid wasp's mis-directed rath! XD  Lucky that encounter ended well for everyone! =)

[brainiac554]

@jcmegabyte imagine a white hot nail and a sledgehammer

[guyglowmore1]

here in the sierras i often saw tarantula hawks feasting upon the yarrow flowers. they've become rare the last few decades as have their favored prey. as the quickening accellerates the consuming fastronauts multiply and all the other animals seem to dissappear (except mice and ants)

[jcmegabyte]

It's interesting how the decline of one species can affect so many others.. such are ecosystems! Fortunately, there may be hope; natural fluctuations in species' populations occur often in nature, and the cycles can have fairly long periods... Hopefully the decline you noticed is only a natural cycle rather than something more serious like man-made climate change. I've noticed long-period cycles in the tarantula hawks here too, plus we have had masive development, which didn't help any :-/

[BEEGER1]

I got stung by one of these bastards once...I think my heart stopped beating for a few minutes. Sweet Mary mother of God that was horrible; like someone stabbed me with a heated railroad spike. If that was the 2nd most painful sting in the world, I don't want to know what a bullet ant can do.

[jcmegabyte]

You're the first person I've heard from that's experienced a sting firsthand - and it sounds like they're every bit as nasty as they're said to be... Even during filming I found it difficult to get near them - they were quite timid and flew away if approached. They didn't seem aggressive at all, although there may be situations when they have something to defend where that's not the case! :-O

[BEEGER1]

@jcmegabyte Nah, Pepsis wasps are pretty docile, unlike their yellow jacket cousins.

I just happen to have the rotten luck of tripping and falling on top of one. :-\

[BSlackey]

They taste really good. Remove stinger and head and dip in honey. Best snack on earth.

[jcmegabyte]

I'll have to see if they have those at next year's show... There were some pretty strange things there to eat! :-)

[wesleysidney]

thank you verry much for the images, it is increadible, i love this wasp.

[jcmegabyte]

These are some very impressive bugs to see in real life - especially when they're buzzing around 2 feet from you! Thanks for watching and commenting!  :-)

[tessalia87]

How did the flying wasp stay in focus during filming? What kind of editing software do you use to piece your videos together? Great video.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for checking it out :-) Focus is very tricky with this high-speed camera (Casio EX-F1). All the controls (aperture, focus, shutter, etc.) are locked once you start filming so you have to "guess" where your subject will be in advance. Shallow depth of field is also an issue with tight aperture and/or zoomed shots. I end up shooting a LOT of "junk" footage and only after the magic of editing (Windows Movie Maker) do those few, short, in-focus bits come together in the final product :-)

[WeegeeMastermind]

aww poor tarantulas :(



[jman280292]

i HATE wasps. The tarantula Hawk wasp has THE most painful sting in the world FACT. But it is not aggressive, unlike its cousin the Hornet and will only attack if disturbed. As much as i hate wasps, i do respect this creature for the way it takes out tarantulas.

[jcmegabyte]

It's interesting how wary of humans these wasps are - I had to move very slowly in order to within a few feet for filming. I also understand that they only lay one egg in each tarantula, and when you see how many of these wasps are out there it makes you realize just how many tarantulas there must be too! :-O

[korgotth]

do these wasps attack humans very often? you dont hear about this very often.

[jcmegabyte]

Actually, I found them to be quite wary of humans... I had to stand right in the middle of these flowering Scale Broom bushes with the wasps flying all around me to get these shots, but if I didn't stay still my movement would scare them away. Thanks for watching! and commenting =)

[IamHelenKeller]

Very Interesting!....

Thanks! :)

[jcmegabyte]

It was an interesting outing standing right in the midst of these giant wasps to film this... glad you enjoyed! :-)

[MsJosselyne]

Quelle patience il doit vous falloir pour de si belles images.

[jcmegabyte]

Indeed - it took nearly 5 hours to film all of these scenes, all the time with the large wasps buzzing all around me! Thanks for watching and commenting :-)

[encrazz]

great job... ^^

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for checking it out! =)

[beast777666]

b s

[BananaWisp]

Wow, I never realized how pretty these things were...quite a nice choice of music too!

[jcmegabyte]

I was surprised, too - normally people stay far away from these things but I had to get within inches to get some of these shots. In full sunlight I found that they really are quite colorful! The music is from my Silicon Landscape CD - glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and the nice comment! :-)

[k6yardotcom]

very beautiful footage. love that slow motion flight. i know how hard it is to capture tiny creatures, you did it so beautifully. cheers for your wonderful video. like it. like it. loveit. 1:28 and a few secs before are fav including the 1:46

thanks you for sharing

ruben from k6yar films

[jcmegabyte]

Glad you enjoyed the show :-) Indeed these critters are challenging to track and focus on - it takes hours to get just a few minutes of usable footage. Thanks so much for visiting and the great comment!

[jcmegabyte]

There's nothing like seeing them in person - irridescent velvet purple bodies and bright orange wings... and they make a tremendous low-pitched buzz. Thanks for watching! :-)

[TrolloftheTube]

What the @#$%?! I have seen bugs that look alot like that!

Dammit, now I can't go outside. XD

[jcmegabyte]

Fortunately they're not very aggressive. In fact, it was difficult to get near them to film - they're wary and fly off when approached... :-)

[TrolloftheTube]

@jcmegabyte

Ah, that's good.

They are beautiful creatures. I guess Hornets are the ones to really be wary of.

[cuckoowasp2009]

This is absolutely fantastic footage. I had a blast collecting Pepsis at the Zzyzx Desert Studies Center in the Mojave Desert. It's only a matter of time until I get stung ... and I hope that someone has the camera rolling when I do. :-)

Great stuff!

[jcmegabyte]

I hear that they have one of the most powerful stings in the insect world, supposedly like #3 or #4 on the top ten. They don't seem too agressive, even when netted, but getting them into a jar or whatever can sure be challenging!

[AlexanderIlli]

Wow, beautiful! I I didn't know they would sting (other than spiders). They probably do so only very rarely, like bumblebees, I suppose.

Super music!

[jcmegabyte]

I think that's the case - they would only sting a person in self defense. They are in fact quite wary, and are easily scared away when approached. Glad you liked my music, too! :-)

[jcmegabyte]

There sure are a lot of amazing creatures out there. These wasps are incredibly colorful, too... irridescent velvet purple bodies with bright orange wings. Thanks for checking them out! :-)

[aurorebleue16]

wonderful video and music

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much! :-)

[Skeletonya]

Fantastic film. Tugging at my entomology heart strings!

Its almost like they were working with you on some of those flybys.

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for watching and the nice comment :-) I spent the better part of the day out there in that dry wash, getting those shots (and lots of other, not so great ones!)... Those wasps are surprisingly shy and wary of things - especially big scary humans with cameras! :-)

[TheAlohaRobert]

truly amazing!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks! :-)

[Terdy]

holy shit..... so gay..... i thought it said SLOW MOTION FIGHT LOL!!!

[loveyoutodeathbut2]

Sometimes it bugs me that Mrs. Megabyte saw you you first. (PS Don't let her see that!)

BSF, I felt like I could reach out and touch that wasp. Not that I would but it's such a 3-D type of feeling with the HD video.

I imagine you swinging a net somewhere, frightening and confusing innocent passers-by =]

[jcmegabyte]

Hahahaha XD [evil laugh] I've been freaking-out passers by since I was a kid! Oddly, this time I wasn't even sporting a net (hard to believe, I know) since my goal was specifically to film these wasps on the late summer Scale Broom (VERY fragrant, unique-smelling flowers) in this secluded location. I was, however, packing the high-speed camera (Casio EX-F1) mounted on the "Stalker" home-made rifle stock, which may have looked pretty scary to anyone nearby! :-O

[snakemaster7]

Very cool videos! Glad to see someone enjoys the wildlife like I do here.

[jcmegabyte]

Even though this area is soooo over-built now, there are still some really nice places right around town to see cool stuff like this. Used to be far easier to find but with the exception of a few hidden spots, the nearby National Forest and rugged areas are the best bet. Definitely wirth the effort to see the cool stuff :-)

[snakemaster7]

Definitely. Vasquez Rocks is another nice place to go, although when it's not crowded. I have only been twice, but the good thing is, is that you can just roam wherever you want, and can go as far as you want with no one stopping you. Last time I went, I saw several beetles and a snakeskin, but it was one of those cold days from the past 2 weeks or so. I can't wait to go back during spring to see what I can find.

[Npeo]

beautiful

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks!  :-)

[waywardmuse]

I've been filming these guys for a long time but never seen them as stunning as these! Your slow motion vids are incomparable. I especially liked the take-offs toward the end. And excellent music as always...

[jcmegabyte]

I wish I'd had more of a chance to film these critters this season. Hopefully next summer will be a good one and I'll be able to spend a lot more time out at this location. Thanks for watching! :-)

[heidelbergerin]

urgh!!! Thank you for sharing these - it's a beautiful video, but I don't think I'd like to meet them face to face!!

[Shyguyx12]

I would rather watch them this way. I don't care for wasps.

[jcmegabyte]

It's definitely safer!  :-)

[ninabonitaycarinosa]

He disfrutado viendo el vídeo

gracias por publicar

5*****

abrazos y besos---ARA

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for watching! =)

[taofledermaus]

Stunning work as always!

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks man! A bit blurry but a few good shots int here :-)

[taofledermaus]

Dang perfectionist!

[ryukenosuke]

Fantastic use of the multiple cameras you own and their capabilities. Some of the shots look so surreal that they could almost be fake. haha. ( :

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks for checking it out :-) This was shot on my first day out with the "stalker" gun mount for the F1, and while it proved very effective in tracking targets, "estimating" the focal range of a moving subject yet to be seen proved to be VERY difficult! I figure I'd just shoot a ton of footage and SOME of it was likely to be in focus some of the time XD Now if the F1 would only do full HD and autofocus at high fps rates, it would be the ultimate camera!

[apaporis]

Tus videos son siempre sorprendentes

gracias :-)

[jcmegabyte]

Thanks so much for watching! :-)