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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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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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.

Beautiful Ichneumon
Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 6:48 PM
Hello! I found this incredible creature flying around in the grass on a warm June night in Western Massachusetts. I think it is an ichneumon, but I just can’t seem to find out much more. Can you tell me its species? Thanks so much!
Jamie
Sheffield, MA

Unknown Ichneumon

hi Jamie,
We agree that it is an Ichenumon, and we agree that it is beautiful, but we are uncertain of the exact species. We will contact Eric Eaton to see if he can provide any additional information. We will also post your letter in the hope that one of our readers knows more than we do. We would recommend that you either keep checking the posting to see if there has been a comment, or better yet, supply an additional comment to the posting with any additional information that may be helpful. Then if a reader provides a comment with an identification, you will automatically be notified.

Update
Daniel:
Yes, it is an ichneumon, but no telling what subfamily, let alone genus or species, without the specimen in hand.
Take care, enjoy the holiday weekend….
Eric

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