Pepsis thisbe - Tarantula hawkFrom Conabio-iNaturalistOnly two large Tarantula Hunters, Pepsis thisbe and P. mildei, have been identified in the Wichita mountains during intensive insect collections by Colorado State Univ. And only P. thisbe has dark antennae (red in P. mildei).
This very active wasp was hunting its hosts in my back yard. It was hyperkinetic, but I did get a few shots as it paused with a paralyzed spider. An expert on BugGuide identified it as Phanagenia bombycina. Length perhaps 12-15 mm.Creepy note. Looking at other comments on this species on BugGuide, I just noticed that the wasp has amputated most of the spider's legs after paralyzing it. Appears to be standard practice for this wasp. (I may have caught it here about to amputate that last leg, actually.)
This spider wasp, Auplopus mellipes, found its way inside my house and I captured it for some photos. This is a difficult group to identify, but this one seems to be distinctive. On BugGuide, Eric Eaton tells us that this species builds its own mud nest, often inside that of pipe organ mud daubers. Like all spider wasps, this one was hyperactive, and I had to chill it briefly to get a photo. Length is about 11 mm.