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

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

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.

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.

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

Strange wasp
July 25, 2009
This painful creature was found at my ex-husbands house. It came down from the attic (comforting I know). It has, what looks like, three long stingers about three + inches long. It has yello on its head/antennas and very long back legs and black wings.
Samantha
East Tennessee

Giant Ichneumon: Dead by human hands???

Dear Samantha,
We are guessing this Giant Ichneumon, Megarhyssa atrata, came down from the attic alive and we are also guessing it is not asleep in this photograph.  We are going to make the leap that is was killed before the photograph was taken.  Giant Ichneumons, despite their frightening appearance, are perfectly harmless.  They are parasitic relatives of wasps and they are incapable of stinging.  What looks like a stinger is in reality the ovipositor of the female and she uses it to lay eggs in the tunnels of wood boring insects like the Pigeon Horntail and other Wood Wasps.  The newly hatched Giant Ichneumon larva then locates the larva of the Wood Wasp and begins to feed upon it.  Coincidentally, we also just received an image of a dead Wood Wasp which we will post next. Since this Giant Ichneumon was killed unnecessarily, we will tag it as Unnecessary Carnage.

I do not appreciate your accusations. It was alive, I had to put it in a container at my ex-husbands house and bring it to mine. It did die on the way over, it was not killed. If I wanted to kill it it would be smooshed, I cannot spray pesticide as my infant is usually close by me. You have been very rude, I will know not to come to you again if I have another question about a bug.
Thanks for your time.

Dear Samantha,
It was not our intention to be rude, but to answer your question as to the identity of your insect, and to try to educate you and others out there about its harmlessness.  The fact that the death of the Giant Ichneumon was involuntary in no way changes that its death was unnecessary, though we are pleased to know that its demise was unintentional.  Insects may die if they are kept for long periods of time in tightly closed containers, and it is surprising how many times unintentional death by suffocation or heat exhaustion occurs, and we are not speaking about insects.  It it is your choice to no longer use this free service that we offer, and we promise we will not force you to visit our site for either educational or entertainment purposes, nor will we demand that you send us additional questions about insects and other arthropods.  In the future, should you have questions about creatures that might potentially harm your infant, you are free to pass over our website and search for your answers elsewhere on the world wide web, and we promise not to blame you for never writing us again.