This series of images of a 2 inch long, very active Tarantula Hawk Wasp was taken in August 2005 on the Peavine Trail in Prescott, Arizona.
The information below is from http://www.friendsofsaguaro.org/tarantulahawks.html
Adult tarantula hawks feed on nectar and pollen, but their larvae feed on tarantulas. After mating, females search the ground for tarantulas or occupied tarantula burrows. Once a burrow is found, they coax the tarantula into coming out by vibrating the tarantula's silk webbing at the entrance to its burrow like a prey item would vibrate the webbing. When the tarantula comes out, the female stings the tarantula, paralyzing it. The female then has to drag the tarantula back to a prepared burrow the wasp has dug.
After stuffing the tarantula into the burrow, the female lays one egg upon the still-living creature's abdomen, exits, and then seals its paralyzed prey inside the burrow. Upon hatching, the wasp larvae will eat the tarantula alive, still-paralyzed, beginning first with the non-essential organs. After about 30 days, the wasp larva has finally consumed most of the tarantula (which now dies), and the larva pupates and eventually metamorphoses into an adult wasp.
Coloration: Overall irridescent blue-black, with bright orange, red, or irridescent black wings
WARNING: tarantula hawks are aposematically-colored (standing out to warn the potential predator that you are dangerous) for a reason – they give the most painful sting of any insect in the U.S. or Mexico. However, they are not aggressive, and you usually need to handle the wasp to get stung.
More information at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula_hawk