Wasp/Grasshopper Cross?
December 27, 2009
Hi Bugman,
I’m hoping you can help me identify this odd red bug. I’ve not seen one before and a cousin thinks it looks like a cross between a wasp and a grasshopper. Don’t know about that . . . anyway, it was very angry with me for bothering it and waved it’s antennae about wildly! I thought it best to leave it alone and hope I’ve gotten a good enough photo for you to be able to help identify. Thanks very much!
Anna Carreon
Hawthorne, California
Short Tailed Ichneumon Wasp
Hi Anna,
This is a Short Tailed Ichneumon Wasp, probably in the genus Ophion. They are solitary wasps that parasitize caterpillars, and they are important natural biological control species. The ovipositor is short, and we have read reports that it might pierce human skin. BugGuide has some information and photos.
Short Tailed Ichneumon Wasp
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Posted 28 December 2009
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Possible Giant Ichneumon – Megarhyssa atrata
May 31, 2009
We found a number of these bugs on the side of a tree while walking through a forest preserve in Northern Illinois (Rockford). They didn’t seem skittish and allowed us to take quite a few hi-res photos of them. There were probably eight or so of them on a single tree. We never saw them anywhere else in the park, only on one tree.
Blake
Rockford, IL
Giant Ichneumon Ovipositing
Dear Blake,
We are trying to devote a bit of time to addressing unanswered mail, and your photo of a female Megarhyssa atrata in the act of ovipositing is beautiful.
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Posted 22 December 2009
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large wasp-type bug with long ‘tail’
November 17, 2009
This bug came in when we opened our back door one evening a few nights ago. Sorry, my husband squished it. The envelope it’s sitting on is a business-sized (10 inch) envelope for size reference. It’s very dark or black with a long jointed looking body, black wings and the really long tail that totally creeps me out. 
Scaredy Cat
North Texas/DFW
Squashed Giant Ichneumon
Dear Scaredy Cat,
This is a female Giant Ichneumon, Megarhyssa atrata, and she is perfectly harmless. The tail, though it looks like a stinger, is actually an ovipositor. With her long ovipositor, the female Giant Ichneumon drills into diseased wood to lay an egg on the larva of a wood boring insect, the Pigeon Horntail.
after reading your site for over an hour the night that I posted, I learned the purpose of that long tail thingy. Wish we wouldn’t have squished her. It was fear-induced carnage. 
With 3 cats and 2 children she probably wouldn’t have lasted long anyway!
Thanks for responding and confirming what I found on your site. We also have great photos of a wooly caterpiller that looks like what the Japanese Monster Mothra was based upon. Can we just submit photos even when we know what the bug is?
Kim
Hi Kim,
You may submit photos, but please use our question form and provide your location. Also, please do not submit more than one species of insect per letter. We are very happy to hear you were able to make your identification without our assistance.
Ichneumon wasp
October 5, 2009
Dear Bugman, I am resubmitting this tiny wasp from july 30, 2009. After sending it to Bugguide, it was identified on Oct. 4, as Messatoporus rufiventris. I thought it ironic, that she should stand on the ISBN of an insect identification book. I have an old camera with no macro. So the photos aren’t the best. Thanks for looking.
Terry
Mound, MN
Ichneumon
Hi Terry,
Thanks so much for resubmitting your images of an Ichneumon after it has been properly identified on BugGuide.
Ichneumon
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Posted 06 October 2009
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What the hell is this thing??
September 23, 2009
My uncle asked me to help him identify this insect. Picture taken today, Sept 23, 2009, in Hopkins MN. The tail end of this bug can fold out & fan out like a chinese fan and it looks like a left–bright green. The long probiscus’ off the back end of it were into the tree, not sure if it was eating something or putting eggs in or what.
Anne Rolli
Hopkins, MN
Giant Ichneumon
Hi Anne,
This is a Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa. She is depositing eggs under the bark and the larvae will feed on wood boring larvae.
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Posted 25 September 2009
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XL Gold Colored Flying Six-legged Black Tail Bug
September 20, 2009
I was startled, thrown back, shocked and subsequently frozen in my driver’s seat after I saw an insect on my windshield today that I have never seen before. It took me a second to gather myself and try to surmise whether the bug was inside the car or out. Once I gathered that I was safe as the bug was stuck to the outside of the windshield, I pulled over the side of the road to contend with the unknown beast at hand. I took a couple of pictures. The bug was about 5 inches long, excluding the long black antenna looking tail. It was gold/light brown colored, and it had wings. I believe that it had six legs.
Freaked Out
Homewood, IL (Northwest Illinois)
Giant Ichneumon on automobile windshield
Dear Freaked Out,
We love your chilling first hand account of your encounter with a Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa. We want to allay your fears and assure you that the Giant Ichneumon will not harm you. What appears to be a stinger is the female’s ovipositor. She deposits eggs under the bark of trees infested with wood boring larvae. The larval Giant Ichneumon parasitizes the wood boring larvae.
Hello, Daniel
Thank you for taking the time to reply, and to reply so promptly, to my identification request. This is very interesting information that you shared. Upon your identification, I went online and did more research. I came across an excerpt that said Charles Darwin was amazed by these creatures as well. That long black ovipositor is frightening in appearance.
All the best to you,
Colleen
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Posted 20 September 2009
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wood boring bug
September 18, 2009
I observed this bug on this tree for over an hour. We live in Worcester County, MA
We also live near a small lake.
JAG
Boylston, MA
Giant Ichneumon
Hi JAG,
You have been mislead. The Giant Ichneumon, Megarhyssa atrata, is not in the true sense of the word, a wood boring insect. This non-stinging wasp relative is a parasitic Hymenopteran. The female, like the individual in your photo, lays her eggs in trees that have been infested by Pigeon Horntail Larvae and other wood boring insects. The larval Giant Ichneumon feeds on the wood boring insects.
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Posted 19 September 2009
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Please………What’s this bug?
September 15, 2009
Please………What’s this bug?
Your letter to the bugman Found these at a day care. Is this bug something to be worried about?
cstan — MN
St. Paul, MN
Giant Ichneumon
Dear cstan,
This is a harmless female Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa. The long ovipositor cannot sting, and is used to lay eggs in wood infested by wood boring larvae of insects like the Pigeon Horntail. The Pigeon Horntail larvae are the prey of the larvae of the Giant Ichneumon.
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Posted 16 September 2009
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wood wasp?
August 20, 2009
Found at 8700′ elevation on the summit of Robinson Peak in Washington’s Pasayten Wilderness. Ichneumon? Wood Wasp?
\Tvashtar
Summit of Robinson Peak in N central WA
Ichneumon Wasp
Hello again Tvashtar,
Your gorgeous images are monopolizing our postings today. This is not a Wood Wasp. It is a Braconid Wasp. Braconid Wasps and Ichneumons are classified together in the superfamily Ichneumonoidea of parasitic Hymenopterans. We believe your specimen is in the genus Atanycolus, but according to BugGuide: “Next to impossible to identify this genus from images alone, however it is one of the more common genera in the subfamily. Identification of images on this guide page are NOT absolute!” It might also be in the subfamily Agathidinae, also represented on BugGuide.
Correction by Eric Eaton
August 29, 2009
Daniel:
… Thanks for the prompt. I do have a couple other corrections:
The “braconid wasp” of August 20 is actually an ichneumon wasp, though I don’t know even which subfamily it belongs to. Ichneumons are a real tough group even with specimens in hand….
… I’ll keep checking for other “errors,” but you are doing a bang-up job, Daniel. Give my best to Lisa, keep in touch:-)
Eric
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Posted 20 August 2009
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What is this?
August 11, 2009
I saw this critter in North East Ohio. It was boring into a tree with its 4 or 5 inch tail…the body was maybe 2 to 3 inches long. What the heck is it?
Kenny
North Eastern Ohio
Giant Ichneumon ovipositing
Hi Kenny,
You have spotted a Giant Ichneumon, Megarhyssa macrurus, in the process of ovipositing. Giant Ichneumons are parasitoids whose larvae feed on the wood boring larvae of the Pigeon Horntail and other Wood Wasps. The female Giant Ichneumon locates a wood boring larva and then uses her lengthy ovipositor to deposit her egg in the proximity of the wood boring larva. You can find more information on BugGuide.
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Posted 12 August 2009
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Wood hornet?
July 31, 2009
This bug was flying around the lights in front of my house in Richmond, Virginia on the night of July 29, 2009. I think it could be a wood hornet and I think the whip-like tail could be an ovipositor (thanks to the information your website provided!) but I am not sure. If this is an ovipositor, why is it so long? It seemed as though the bug had very little control of it as it flew around the lights and banged into the side of the house!
Steph
Richmond, VA
Female Giant Ichneumon
Hi Steph,
Coincidentally, a few minutes ago we posted an image of a male Megarhyssa atrata, and in that response, we described the female. Your photo is a female Giant Ichneumon, Megarhyssa atrata. She does have an ovipositor. Giant Ichneumons prey upon the larvae of Pigeon Horntails and other wood boring insects that infest dead and dying trees. The female uses her long ovipositor to deposit eggs deep inside infested wood, “drilling” until she locates the tunnel of a wood boring grub. That is where she lays the egg. We have several nice images of Giant Ichnuemons ovipositing on our website, including this one from June 2008. We have heard that Giant Ichneumons may be attracted to artificial lights at night.
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Posted 31 July 2009
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Crane Fly? Damsel Fly? Really Off-Course Fly?
July 31, 2009
Hey there – Here’s a very interesting looking flying insect found yesterday, July 30th, at Massassauga Point Conservation Area, Prince Edward County, Ontario. Very sunny day, humid, temperatures around 28 Celsius. My wife works for the conservation authority and was in the field when she spotted it. I’ve done as much Internet searching as I can but cannot identify the insect. It was in a brushy, wooded area when the photo was taken, and when in flight its legs dangled much like a mud dobber, and it has orange antennae like a wood wasp, but it’s the tail end that has us stumped. It hovered much like a wasp when in flight.
Any help would be appreciated – thanks!
Glenn May-Anderson, Belleville, Ontario
Massassauga Point, Prince Edward County, Ontario
Ichneumon
Hi Glenn,
We receive many identification requests for female Giant Ichneumons in the genus Megarhyssa, but we receive very few images of the males. This is a male Megarhyssa atrata. The female has a three inch long ovipositor that is often mistaken for a stinger. She uses her ovipositor to deposit eggs into dead and dying wood that is infested with wood boring larvae, the food for the larval Ichneumon.
Correction from Eric Eaton
August 4, 2009
Hi, Daniel:
… A couple other things:
The “Giant ichneumon: male of the species” is incorrect. The ichneumon in the image is not even in the same subfamily, and it is likely a female.
… Keep up the great job, Daniel:-)
Eric
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Posted 31 July 2009
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