Banded Spider Wasp (Caliadurgus fasciatellus)

Caliadurgus fasciatellus, seen here in my garden, is a species of spider-hunting wasp from the subfamily Pepsinae, found in the south & south eastern part of the UK. with some records also from southern Wales.

From June to October it hunts Orb Web spiders of the genera Araneus and Meta which it paralyses before gripping its victim in its jaws, between the thorax and abdomen, and transporting to a burrow excavated vertically in sandy substrate where it's placed in the cell.

Unusually, it constructs the nest AFTER having caught its prey.

To avoid its prize being stolen while it does so, it suspends the spider to a nearby plant with the spider's own silk.