Isopeda leishmanni
Meaning of name: Unknown.
Distribution: Reported from Western Australia and the southern states of Australia.
Description: This spider has a body length of approximately 35 millimetres.
Notes: We have seen this spider paralysed by a Great Orange Huntsman Wasp, Cryptocheilus fabricolor. The wasp was dragging the spider to a nesting burrow where the wasp would lay an egg. The larval wasp will eat the still-living spider and emerge from the burrow after pupating. The advantage of having a paralysed, but living, spider is that the meal (spider) stays fresh and doesn’t start to rot or decay until it dies.
We have photographed this spider in November and December.
References: Atlas of Living Australia https://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:81c91e98-3175-4dd0-b0bf-1629dc6c91eb
Identification courtesy of David Knowles and Cael Gallery.
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The wasp is dragging the huntsman spider to her brood chamber. The spider will stay alive, but paralysed, while the wasp baby eats it.
The paralysed spider is left unattended while the wasp flies up to check she's still dragging the spider in the right direction.
