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Giant Ichneumon

Posted by December 29th, 2005 at 1:00 am

Categories

Ichneumons

pretty bug sitting on our screen door
I found this pretty bug sitting on our screen door this July in East-Central Illinois. Overall, it was about 5-6 inches in length. Any ideas what it was?
Thanks,
Kim

Hi Kim,
It is so refreshing that you find the Giant Ichneumon species in the genus Megarhyssa pretty. Usually people are horrified at the thought of getting stung. That long appendage is the female’s ovipositor and it is used to deposit eggs in wood infested by boring larvae and grubs. This is a beneficial insect.

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