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Megarhyssa atrata: Males waiting for the emergence of a female?

Posted by July 13th, 2007 at 12:00 am

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Ichneumons

WNY Wasps
Fantastic site! These wasps(?) were located at the edge of a hollowed out section of a tree in southwestern New York State. Could they be male and female American Pelecinid Wasps? I’m not positive because their coloration is somewhat different from others I have seen. Thanks.
Kevin

m atrata males Megarhyssa atrata: Males waiting for the emergence of a female?

Hi Kevin,
We believe these are male Giant Ichneumons, Megarhyssa atrata. Eric Eaton writes on BugGuide: “I did some reading recently, and apparently that shovel-like appendange on the end of his abdomen allows him to mate with a female while she is still in the tree, prior to her emergence! Sometimes you will see a group of males waiting patiently for a female to emerge from a log or dead standing tree.”

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Comments 1

  1. redenius wrote:

    I think I found a big giant ichneumon. There were five of them. One yellow and black and 4 of them had blue wings.
    I’d like to the pictures I just took.

    Posted 04 Jun 2009 at 7:58 pm

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