Sweet Revenge!

     This has been a nasty year for yellow-jackets. Nasty for humans, that is, but apparently great for hungry yellow-jackets. Their populations multiply exponentially in dry springs and early summers. By mid-summer, they've taken over - and this year with a vengeance. Recently, while mowing our dandelion "lawn" (we let our grass dry out in summer), a yellow jacket got stuck in my shoe and stung like crazy when he couldn't get out. He was really ticked off. When I stopped "dancing" and hastily bent over to take my shoe off, two more under my shirt took umbrage with the move and let me know their displeasure. Now I was really ticked too!

Goldenrod Crab Spider (credit: Bugguide.net)

     However, while hanging out laundry yesterday, with yellow-jackets swarming and buzzing their warning, my eye caught something that made me happy. It was a Goldenrod Crab Spider on the side of the wasp trap hanging from the clothesline. She had just nabbed and poisoned a yellow-jacket with her powerful venom. It looked like she was "kissing" him. The wasp became motionless and she proceeded to suck the "juice" right out of his mean little body. "You go girl!" I shouted. Though the wasp's mates continued to harass me to the point I went inside, I kept sneaking back out to check on her, wondering if she'd nab more. There were plenty buzzing around the wasp trap she was sitting on (and blending with so beautifully).

Sucking the life out of a yellow-jacket. Yum!

     First thing this morning, I went out to see if she was still on the wasp trap. Yep. She'd apparently spent the night on the black strap holding it onto the line. As the day progressed, she moved first to the top of the trap, then down until I thought she'd given up and left. But,no! The clever girl had moved to the bottom where the wasps enter the trap. I never did see her catch one today (and checked frequently), but hope she nabs one tomorrow. She's in the perfect spot to do it and blends in so well with the trap, I'd be surprised if the wasp saw what was coming.

Hungry spider coming out of her hiding place at the end of the day

     According to the various websites, Goldenrod Crab Spiders can move backward, forward and sideways. They don't build webs, but hang out in flowers where their prey show up (flies, bees, wasps). I'm not happy to think of her nabbing bees - they're the "good guys" and we've got lots around here. She's welcome to all the yellow-jackets she can eat, though. Apparently, they lay eggs in a leaf, fold it over and secure it with their silk, but the mother dies off before the little ones hatch, so they're on their own. It can be a cruel, but very interesting little world out there.