rss Amazing huge wasp
Location: Central Ontario (Algonquin Park)
September 12, 2011 8:50 pm
We saw this wasp/hornet at our campsite in Algonquin park August 2011. It was absolutely huge. As I recall it was more than 1” long. Any idea what this one is?
Signature: J. Wilson
Wood Waps
Hi J. Wilson,
We just finished posting a photo of a relative of your Wood Wasp. Your species is Urocerus albicornis and you can find matching images on BugGuide.
have never seen this one!
Location: central alberta canada
September 13, 2011 12:25 am
Hi there! My name is Rik.I live in kamloops BC canada,and have been working in Hinton Alberta Canada.On sept 12th 5pm i had gone into a bank whereby I had noticed a rather large insect on the inside window ledge.The insect was about 3 inches in length..i wonder what it is? Thank you …rik
Signature: rik in alberta canada
Giant Wood Wasp
Hi rik,
This is a Giant Wood Wasp, Urocerus gigas, a species that is found in Eurasia as well as North America. What appears to be a stinger is actually an ovipositor. Because the larvae are wood borers, they can be spread and introduced to new locations by the shipping of wood products. See BugGuide for additional information.
Giant wasp with an extra stinger?
Location: Ontario, Canada
August 31, 2011 6:36 pm
Hello bugman! I found this GIANT wasp on my back deck hanging out on the wall. Take a look at the stinger area, there seems to be an extra stinger or something protruding from its bum! very bizarre, and I can’t find a picture like it anywhere! Hope you can help me find out what this is!
Signature: curious
Pigeon Horntail
Dear Curious,
What you have mistaken for a stinger is actually this female Pigeon Horntail‘s ovipositor. She deposits her eggs beneath the bark of diseased and dead trees and the wood boring larvae help break down the wood as part of the complex decomposition process. The larvae of the Pigeon Horntails are preyed upon by another frightening looking but harmless non-stinging relative of wasps, the Stump Stabber, a very colorful name for the Giant Ichneumon.
Pigeon Horntail
Wow, thats really neat! Thanks for helping me identify my bug and making it bug of the month! It looked terrifying, so I kept my distance. Glad to know its harmless as I was a bit of a wimp while looking at it! Thanks again
PIgeon Horntail
Just Thanks
August 26, 2011 11:41 am
Since discovering your website (just a few days ago, when you identified and Elm Sawfly for my son and I) I have spent (I would hate to say wasted) way too much time perusing your site. I tell myself I am researching things, but really, I know I am mostly just enjoying myself, and learning a few things along the way. Anyway, thank you very much.
Signature: Sarah
Hi Sarah,
Thanks so much for taking the time to write and evaluate our website. We try to be bright, witty and charming as well as informative, and it is good to hear that you have been both entertained and educated.
Is this some kind of stump stabber?
Location: Burnaby, BC, Canada
August 24, 2011 5:17 pm
Hi, I was washing my car today and found this resting in one of the doors. It is just over an inch long, black with yellow highlights on legs, head and antennae, and two rather long pointy extension on its abdomen. One located above the other and about half as long as the other. I have never seen an insect like this and would like to know what it is and where it is from. Thanks.
Signature: – John D. Williams
Horntail
Dear John,
Indulge us if we go off on a tangent prior to responding to your questions. You had us at your lead with the tantalizing question regarding a Stump Stabber. We have a vague recollection of hearing the name in the hazy past, but at any rate, it immediately conjured up a picture in our minds of a Giant Ichneumon, a somewhat unwieldy common name for Megarhyssa atrata, and her close relatives. One would never call the male Giant Ichneumon a Stump Stabber, as he lacks the 5 inch long ovipositor the female uses to lay eggs that hatch into larvae that feed on the wood boring larvae of the Pigeon Horntail, a type of Wood Wasp.
So, we looked up the name Stump Stabber and we found the Canadian Talk About Wildlife website and sure enough, a Stump Stabber was pictured to be a Megarhyssa, possibly Megarhyssa macrurus.
Your Hymenopteran, Urocerus albicornus, is a Horntail Wasp that lays her eggs in “hosts include fir, larch, spruce, pine, Douglas-fir, hemlock, and western red cedar” according to BugGuide.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for the info. I got the term Stump Stabber from a bug field guide I got as a kid, “Bugs of British Columbia, a Lone Pine Field Guide by John Acorn and Ian Sheldon”. I just thought it was that kind of bug because of the ovipositor and the long hind legs. I got a better picture of it when I let it go onto a plant. It is attached if you’re interested.
Thanks again,
John Williams
Horntail: Urocerus albicornus
Thanks for sending us a new photo of this elegantly beautiful Wood Wasp that clearly shows her ovipositor.
Interesting Alaska Bug in June
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
August 21, 2011 12:53 am
Hi, we just found your site and have already found it really interesting. We are hoping you can help us identify an insect we saw in June at our house in Fairbanks, Alaska. As you can see, it was on a dandelion. We’ve looked, but we can’t figure it out. We’d really appreciate any help. Thanks!
Signature: Mother and Son bug fans
Elm Sawfly
Dear Mother and Son bug fans,
This magnificent creature is an Elm Sawfly, Cimbex americana, a nonstinging relative of bees and wasps that has a foliage feeding larva that resembles a caterpillar.
Dear Daniel,
… However, how about checking out the flocked insect I have loaded up today.
Thank you,
Jim Kirkland
University of Illinois
Illinois Forest Resource Center
Butternut Woolly Worm
Hi again Jim,
Thanks for sending us this nice photo of a Butternut Woolly Worm, Eriocampa juglandis, the larva of a Sawfly.
Dear Daniel, Thank you very much for the use of the pic. Thank you also for the id of the butternut woolly worm found last summer in a Black Walnut plantation near Glendale, Illinois. Jim
Weird insect never seen before ever!
Location: Bathurst, NB. Canada
August 15, 2011 10:18 am
Hi i’d like to know what kind of bug this is, my friend found this is her yard. The weather has been changing from hot to cold and raining. Nobody has ever seen this insect before? is it poisonous, is it safe? what family of insect is it from? and where does it come from? what does it do?
Signature: Jenna
Pigeon Horntail
Hi Jenna,
The Pigeon Horntail, Tremex columba, is not harmful to people. It does not sting and it is not poisonous, however, the larvae of this Wood Wasp are borers that infest dead and dying trees. Here is a photo from our archives of a Pigeon Horntail ovipositing. You can also find additional information on BugGuide.
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