Capable of delivering what has been rated as the second most painful insect sting in the world, it's a good thing that the tarantula hawk is not particularly agressive towards humans unless provoked. The same cannot be said about it's behavior in regards to tarantulas, however. As its name suggests, the tarantuala hawk actually hunts tarantulas and feeds the captured spiders to its young. This feeding process involves laying a single egg on the abdomen of a still living, but paralyzed, tarantula. When the egg hatches the young wasp promptly begins feeding voraciously upon the live tarantula, prolonging what must be the spider's torturously slow death for as long as possible by avoiding the vital organs. As for adult tarantuala hawks, they are vegetarians, sipping nector produced by flowers in order to derive their nourishment.