Family: Ichneumonid Wasps
Date: 6.29.15
Observation:
This female wasp (a non stinging wasp) caught my attention as I was walking around our porch. By the time I noticed its remarkably long ovipositor (the long needle like appendage behind the wasp - it is used for laying eggs), the wasp flew away.
A Fact from Dana:
Ichneumonids are parasitic wasps - they lay their eggs in or on other "host" insects. Scientists estimate there are between 40,000 and 100,000 species of Ichneumoid wasps.
A Fact from Alice:
The females of the Megarhyssa genus (not pictured here) lay their eggs by inserting their ovipositor into a dead log (through up to two inches of wood) in order to reach the lavae host. Scientists believe the egg laying process may take between seven minutes and five and a half hours, depending on the depth to which the wasp must drill. How the wasp accomplishes this is unknown.
Learn more at the Missouri Department of Conservation - The Amazing Ichneumon
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