Tarantula Hawks are huge wasps that prey on tarantulas and trap door spiders. This one (a male) was on a narrow-leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis Dcne.) at the start of the Chumash Trail in Simi Valley. Several good runs start at this trailhead, and many variations are possible. It's 2.6 miles up the trail to Rocky Peak Rd, and from there you can do out and backs north or south along the fire road, or loops via Las Llajas canyon, the Hummingbird Trail, or the Lower Stagecoach Trail. (Photo from a run on September 14, 2005.)