Tarantula Hawk (Pepsis grossa) seen last week just outside of Medellin, Colombia. Second most painful bite in the world, “…immediate, excruciating, unrelenting pain that simply shuts down one's ability to do anything, except scream. Mental discipline simply does not work in these situations.” Sounds fun!

Domain: Eukaryota

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Hymenoptera

Family: Pompilidae

Subfamily: Pepsinae

Tribe: Pepsini

Species: Pepsis grossa