photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Bev Wigney | all galleries >> Galleries >> Wasp, Hornets & Sawflies > Megarhyssa macrurus - Giant-ichneumon - view 1
previous | next
13-June-2007

Megarhyssa macrurus - Giant-ichneumon - view 1

at the farm -- Osgoode

found in backyard on Manitoba Maple leaf at 6:45 a.m.


other sizes: small medium large original auto
comment | share
Guest 27-Aug-2007 02:32
Thank you so much Bev. You nailed it right on the head. The one in the photo is identical to the one I have here. Are they normally found in Nova Scotia, or might it have gotten in my house by some other means...i.e. in a larva form on produce.
Bev Wigney24-Aug-2007 16:05
Hi Thomas - What you desribe sounds more like an Enicospilus or similar genus of Ichneumon wasp. Here's an example of what one might look like:
http://www.cedarcreek.umn.edu/insects/album/025016464ap.html
They are often attracted to lights at night, as are some of the other species in the family Ichneumonidae (especially the Ophioninae). Stephen Marshall, in his book "Insects: Their Natural History and Diversity" mentioned that some members of this subfamily "deliver a startlingly stinglike poke, sometimes along with a venom injection, using the sharp ovipositors that normally function to inject eggs into caterpillar hosts." Hope some of that is a help to you.
Thomas Chute 24-Aug-2007 01:12
Hi Bev, I have found another species of wasp in this last week. It is similar to this one (Megarhyssa macrurus) only it is completely brown, and doesn't have the long tail. The rear section of its body is quite flat, curved downwards and sort of squared off on the end. It was flying in my kitchen in circles around the light at lightning speeds so I mistakingly thought it was a moth until I tried to grab it out of the air. It turned very agressive and when I finally did capture it it violently stung everything within reach of its arse. It has quite a stinger on it too. About 1/3 the length of its hind quarters. I am starting to wonder where these weird species are migrating from. I have grown up outside of Halifax my entire life and have never come across a fraction of the different species that I have this past year.
Bev Wigney17-Jun-2007 23:39
You may be right about these Ichneumon coming from a dead tree. The female lays its eggs in old logs or trees that are dying. These ichneumon parasitize horntail larvae which bore holes in rotting trees. After killing the horntail larvae, they emerge from the tree as adults. As far as I know, they don't bother with humans at all. I've never heard of anyone being hurt by one. They are really only interested in finding horntail larvae to parasitize, so should just ignore you.
Schuvdaddy 17-Jun-2007 18:24
i have seen these in our back yard. we think they came from a dead tree we recently cut down. Do they sting? are they posioness? how would i get rid of them and are they agrressive?