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IchneumonsWhat is this in Michigan? A wasp?
Location: Detroit Metro, Michigan
June 3, 2011 8:30 pm
Ew we found this tonight … it looks like it is injecting our tree!!!
Is it a wasp?!
Signature: Noel
Giant Ichneumon
Hi Noel,
We want to begin by complimenting you on having taken a beautiful photograph of a female Giant Ichneumon (see BugGuide) in the genus Megarhyssa, most likely Megarhyssa macrurus, in the act of ovipositing or depositing her eggs. While this probably appears to be detrimental to the tree, the larvae of the Giant Ichneumon does not feed on wood. Rather, they feed upon the larvae of the wood boring Pigeon Horntail. The Pigeon Horntail does not generally infest healthy trees, so this tree is most likely already in a state of decline. Both the Pigeon Horntail and the Giant Ichnuemon belong to the same insect order as bees and wasps, Hymenoptera, but neither the Pigeon Horntail nor the Giant Ichneumon is capable of stinging. They are wasp-like without being true wasps. This is our second sighting of a Giant Ichneumon reported today.
Update:
June 5, 2011
We just received and posted a new photo of the host insect, the Pigeon Horntail.
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(07/27/2011)Giant Ichneumon Ovipositing -
(08/15/2011)Giant Ichneumon
Trackbacks & Pingbacks 2
[...] IchneumonThis is a female Giant Ichneumon, the second image we received the same day. The photo we just finished posting shows the female in the act of using that lengthy ovipositor to place her eggs deep within the wood [...]
[...] to deposit her eggs under the bark of dead or dying trees. The larvae are wood borers. We just recently posted several photos of the Pigeon Horntail’s primary predator, the Giant Ichneumon.0 I like [...]
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