Another question
Dear Bugman,
First of all, you guys are awesome. I’ve sent photos of several different insects and arachnids your way and you always help out the best you can when it comes to identification. I commend you for always being courteous and prompt (when you can be). Now that I’ve done my quota of kissing butt, here are some more photos of critters I could use some help with. I only publish amateur photos on my website, so most of the time the species of creature is in question. Don’t get me wrong, I can tell an arachnid from an insect and an amphibian from a reptile, but whenever possible I prefer to positively identify a critter’s species. If you can even just point me in the right direction "order"-wise, I can probably find it. If you can give me the actual species…even better. Thanks in advance,
Stefan Bowers
Hi Stefan,
Most importantly, where are you located? This is some species of Ichenumon. We believe it may be a male Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa. Your moth is one of the Sphinx Moths, but we need to research what species. We are posting yout two insects separately as putting different orders in one posting complicates our already disorganized archives.
Update: (05/11/2008)
Hi, Daniel:
A couple quick corrections to recent postings, if I may: The “Unknown ichneumon wasp” is NOT a male of Megarhyssa. Most ichneumon wasps are essentially impossible to identify beyond family from an image alone. Even specimens can be problematic! The one imaged here resembles the genus Ophion, but in no way can I be positive of that. … Cheers,
Eric
¶ Posted 10 May 2008 § ‡ ° Found this on my wall
Hi Bugman!
I just want to start off by saying that I LOVE this site. It’s so helpful in identifying bugs all over the place. This morning, I found this bug sitting on a wall, and I have to say, he scared the pants off of me! Any idea what kind it is? At first glance I thought roach, then I looked at it a little closer, and thought, maybe it’s some weird mosquito or wasp that I haven’t seen before. I live in Alpharetta, Georgia… about 40 minutes south of the north Georgia Mountains, just to give a range for this bug. Any help identifying him would be appreciated! Thanks!
Vikki
Hi Vikki,
This is an Ichneumon, and it is a wasp. Ichneumons are parasitic on other insects, most often wood boring insects, and the female lays eggs with a long ovipositor. Most Ichneumons do not sting, but we have heard from Eric Eaton that some species can sting.
Thanks so much for letting me know! 
I really do appreciate all your hard work with the site and keeping up with the billions of requests you get.
Vikki Shifrin
Hi Vikki,
Your response made us chuckle. We will check with our web host, but we don’t think we have reached our first billion letters yet. We can tell you for certain there has not been a billion answers.
¶ Posted 16 April 2008 § ‡ ° Ichneumon?
Hi Bugman,
I found this on my spinach plant the other day, in my garden in Wellington, New Zealand. It was pretty small, just an inch or so long. After checking out your site would we be right in thinking it’s a type of Ichneumon? The ovipositor looks very short compared the similar photos on your website though. Thanks,
Belinda
Hi Belinda,
Your wasp is definitely an Ichneumon, one of a very large group of wasps that parasitize other insects. It looks exactly like the Banded Caterpillar Parasite Wasp, Ichneumon promissorius, that we located on the Geocities website.
¶ Posted 15 February 2008 § ‡ ° two sp. of ichneumon ovipositing together
Hi Bugman,
Thanks for your helpful comments and photos of ichneumons. My brother took this picture next to his house in Bloomington MN that might be nice for your collection. We identified the two ichneumons using your page; if I read correctly, it’s a Megarhyssa macrurus and a Megarhyssa atrata laying eggs side by side.
Allan
Hi Allen,
Thank you for sending us your brother’s fabulous photograph. It is one of the best images we have received in a long time. Your identification is correct, with Megarhyssa atrata on the right. Out of curiosity: Does your brother have a name? or, Is he just your brother?
Hi Daniel,
My brother’s name is Jon, and he deserves all the credit! All the best,
Allan
¶ Posted 08 October 2007 § ‡ ° Photos of Giant Ichnerumons, Megarhyssa Macrurus
I was able to identify Giant Ichnerumons, Megarhyssa Macrurus thanks to your site – we have a dead tree that is covered with them here in Bolton, Connecticut. I am sending you the photos in case they are shots of the bug that you don’t already have. It looks like her ovipositor might be depositing her eggs??? Enjoyed your site. I’ve bookmarked it for future reference. Keep up the great work.
Betty
Hi Betty,
It has been several months since we have posted a photo of a Giant Ichneumon on our homepage. Your photo of a female Megarhyssa macrurus ovipositing is stunning.
¶ Posted 27 September 2007 § ‡ ° weird flying orange antennae big bug in Canada
Hi. Awesome website!
I checked through and can’t find this weird flying bug with a black body (that it holds flipped up, over its head – although the 2nd pic I did get in normal position), and orange antennae. I’m always photographing butterflies and bugs and love their beauty, however I have to admit this ‘thing’ scared me! It’s about 2-3 inches long, and I had never before seen it in southern Saskatchewan, Canada. Many thanks
Fran
Hi Fran,
We thought this was a male Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa, but we were wrong. See Below.
Many thanks. If it’s any help: when my sister and I first spotted it: it looked like it had just wings and antennae, like it was trying to stuff its body into the crack in the tree. (weird). Then it had it flipped over its back most of the time, and only for one ‘wiggle’ did it appear normal, then back to this position. Looking forward to your reply. Best regards,
Fran.
Correction: (07/31/2007)
Eric Eaton set us straight. Here is what he wrote: “Hi, Daniel: That is an ichneumon wasp, but NOT a Megarhyssa. We have images over at Bugguide identified as Gnamptopelta obsidianator, but I don’t know any more than that. Females of that species lack the long ovipositors.
Eric”
¶ Posted 30 July 2007 § ‡ ° bug??? Hi,
I was wondering what kind of bug this is. There were at least 30 of them on the tree at once. I am located in Grand Rapids MI. Thank you soooo much for your time!
Melissa
 |  |
| Megarhyssa atrata | Megarhyssa macrurus |
Hi Melissa,
You have submitted photos of two different species of Giant Ichneumons. The black specimen with the yellow head is Megarhyssa atrata and the brown and yellow individual is Megarhyssa macrurus. Giant Ichneumons are beneficial insects, though they are often mistaken for wood wasps upon which they feed. The adult female Giant Ichneumon uses her formidable ovipositor to deposit eggs in wood infested with wood boring larvae of the Pigeon Horntail and other Wood Wasps. The young Ichneumon parasites the wood boring larva. We have gotten so many images of Giant Ichneumons this summer we have decided to make it the Bug of the Month for August.
What’s THIS bug?
Hi there,
This bug appeared on my desk tonight and we’ve never seen one like this before. What made me take notice of it most was the white midsection on the dark coloured antennae. I apologize for the quality of the photos but our digital camera won’t take good closeups. This is the best I could do. One photo was taken while the bug was sitting on a white envelope and the other two were taken with it sitting on the beige wallpaper. The bug is about an inch long if you count in the antennae. He flies from one light to another or sits on the wall next to the light. I’d appreciate knowing what it is. I looked on your website but, not knowing what type of bug to look up, I’d have to look at every listing there. Since I have dialup and not high speed, that would take forever. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. I hope this thing doesn’t bite because we’ve chosen to let him fly free. If he lands on me, I may change my mind on that though!
Cheryl Jones
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Canada
Hi Cheryl,
This is an Ichneumon. Ichneumons are an important group of insects that parasitize caterpillars, wood boring insects, aphids and others. Ichneumons are related to wasps, but they do not sting. BugGuide has identified your group of Ichneumons in a very general sense according to color: Black/White w Orange legs, Dot on Back, White on Antennae. BugGuide also indicates that Ichneumonidae is: “One of the largest families of insects with over 3100 species in North America (60,000 worldwide). The majority resemble slender wasps. They differ from the wasps that sting (Scolioidea, Vespoidea and Sphecoidea) in that they have the antennae longer and with more segments usually 16 or more). In many ichneumons the ovipositor is quite long, often longer than the body. It is divided into 24 or 35 subfamilies depending on different authors.. Many Ichneumons are of value in the control of noxious insects. “
¶ Posted 22 July 2007 § ‡ ° 
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