Wasp feeding behaviour

[robin28]

Here is a wasp feeding:



The speed of it was astonishing. Not only was the initial attack too fast to follow with the eye, the whole thing was consumed within a minute.

The wasp is hanging upside down in a spider's web and apparently cares nothing for the possibility that spiders also eat wasps.



The prey may be a spider (I thought it was the owner of the web) but I rather think I can see a bee-like eye and antennae. So it is possibly pre-wrapped prey stolen from the spider's web.

Can anybody comment?

Is this Vespula vulgaris?

Thanks

Robin

[Wild-Woman]

So, are these two separate webs here? The spiders look like two different species. On both shots it looks like a Common Wasp. The spider would have the advantage here I should think, as the wasp would have tangled itself somewhat in the sticky silk of the web before the spider injected its lethal venom.
If a spider was away from its web, I would think the wasp would have the advantage, purely because it is more mobile and could avoid the fangs.

[JRsbugs]

The first image with the wasp eating an insect is difficult to say what the prey is, but the wasp is likely Vespula germanica which has a broad yellow band at the side of the eye.

The first of the second images also looks like V. germanica, the second of the two is V. vulgaris.

[nikolai_avenger]

I would go so far as to say that some spiders are not even safe in their own webs. Around this time last year (maybe a little later) I watched a wasp 'inspecting' the webs of the various Araneus diadematus scattered around the garden. The wasp didn't actually touch the web itself but kind of hovered a little in front of it. The strategy of the spider when faced with the wasp was to suddenly drop from the web.

I have also recently seen a wasp successfully free itself from a web. The spider was nowhere to be seen.

Would a wasp pluck a spider from its own web, or are these wasps up to no good, checking out the spiders webs for a free meal. A potentially risky strategy either way!

Cheers. Nik.

[robin28]

I think the most usual outcome is that the wasp shakes itself free and flies away. Araneid spiders (e.g. Araneus diadematus, lower left, above) often to come onto the web and shake vigorously to get the prey to 'stick', then immobilize the prey by wrapping it in silk before they dare approach and bite. Even so, most wasps escape.

Achaearanea simulans (lower right) is a Theridiid spider, much smaller with strong venom and a much less structured web. I have never observed the actual capture.

I have read that wasps like V. germanica (thanks JR) feed their grubs on fresh meat or carrion, so it seems equally likely that this one took the spider from the hub of her web or a pre-wrapped bee that she was saving for later.

What I found surprising was that the wasp was prepared to hang in the web for nearly a minute while it devoured its meal. It is very large and powerful compared to most spiders at this time of year and it has a powerful sting. But that level of disregard for the spider is impressive.