Videos showcase the terrifying power of a spider wasp’s sting

Viewers were paralyzed with fear.

An Arizona biologist sent shudders across social media after showcasing the scary, incapacitating effects of a spider wasp’s sting — which can immobilize its victims for months on end.

“It’s like something out of a science fiction movie!” said Andrew Wesley Legan, 30, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Arizona entomology department in Tucson, whose videos detailing the insect’s insane knockout power are currently amassing millions of watches on TikTok.

The wasp expert was referring to the tarantula hawk, a sparrow-sized wasp that resides in the American Southwest and is known for paralyzing its arachnid namesake with its sting.

It then lays eggs in the incapacitated spider, which burst out of its body and feed on the spiders while they’re still alive like something out of Ridley Scott’s 1979 horror flick “Alien.”

While the wasp is best known for its excruciating sting — which scores a mind-numbing 4 on the Schmidt Pain Index (right under the agony-inducing bullet ant) — the tarantula hawk also induces extreme paralysis, as observed by Legan in his latest video.

The Tucson native said he was walking his dog in his front yard at night when the pair happened upon a tarantula that had been stung by one of the critters.

“I found a tarantula hawk wasp with her prey, the tarantula,” Legan intoned in the clip. “The tarantula was completely immobile.”

Accompanying footage shows the apparently frustrated wasp flying away from the scene of the sting while its hairy quarry lays in the sand motionless.

The Arizonan explained how he “rescued the tarantula” and brought it home to shed light on the longevity of paralysis. This state of suspended animation can last anywhere from two hours to two months depending on the species, per the clip.

“I collected the tarantula after it was stung but before the wasp laid an egg, so I’ve had the opportunity to observe the tarantula’s recovery,” Legan said, who filmed himself placing the arachnid in a makeshift terrarium.

At the end of the video, the biologist commented that the tarantula remained unresponsive after five days.

The arachnological coma continued to persist for long afterward. A follow-up video taken 17 days after the tarantula’s initial paralysis showed that the animal had yet to reanimate, remaining motionless even when Legan lifted up its legs with a paintbrush.

To demonstrate that the spider was still alive despite its rigidity, the scientist decided to feed it water. “The tarantula can go a long time without food but needs water to survive,” Legan explained.

Thankfully, when he flipped Shelob over and squeezed water droplets on its fangs, it appeared to drink it.

However, it wasn’t until weeks later that the unwilling Mannequin Challenge participant started to show signs of life. “Now, more than a month after it was stung, the tarantula is just beginning to slightly move its legs and fangs,” explained Legan.

In a final video update shot 38 days after the initial sting, the tarantula could be seen taking a few groggy steps like a baby deer learning to walk.

Viewers were taken aback by the footage, with many purported arachnophobes sympathizing with the spider’s plight.

“Awe poor baby,” lamented one disturbed gawker, while another wrote, “I don’t like spiders but Why do I kinda feel bad for the tarantula.”

“Bro is in spider purgatory,” lamented a third of the critter’s grueling road to recovery.

Meanwhile, others wondered if the tarantula was imbued with “Spiderman”-esque powers following the sting.

One animal lover thanked Legan for saving the spider, writing: “Thank you so much for looking after this beautiful creature. I’ve been really taken by his journey back to health.”

The comments were well received by the biologist, who says his goal is to “inspire curiosity about ‘weird’ organisms, especially insects.”

“I love when someone comments something like ‘usually I’m scared of this bug, but now I want to know more!’ “