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Gillian | all galleries >> Insects & Arachnids >> Bees and Wasps (Order Hymenoptera) >> Ichneumon Wasps (Family Ichneumonidae) > Giant Ichneumon Wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus)
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14-AUG-2011 Gillian Mastromatteo

Giant Ichneumon Wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus)

Jack Pine Trail

When this large wasp flew past me, I thought it was a dragonfly! Then I saw her on the trunk of a tree and knew it was something entirely different. This wasp has long legs, a long abdomen and a long ovipositor (but no stinger). The ovipositor is used to insert eggs into the larvae of a Horntail Wasp, which live inside the wood. After the egg hatches, the young Ichneumon Wasp larva feeds on the horntail larva and then pupates in the wood. When it reaches maturity, it chews its way out and begins life as an adult.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX1
1/200s f/4.0 at 23.2mm iso125 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time14-Aug-2011 14:24:15
MakeSony
ModelDSC-HX1
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length23.2 mm
Exposure Time1/200 sec
Aperturef/4
ISO Equivalent125
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Modematrix (5)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
larose forest photos16-Aug-2011 02:22
Lucky you! I have only been able to photograph them once, and that was about 3 years ago when I saw two (one flew into our car in Larose this year, but I was so excited I dropped my camera! No shot!). Nice one. V
Ann Shapiro15-Aug-2011 01:57
Great shot of this Wasp. Aren't they amazing. I too thought it was a dragonfly. I saw my first one this year! We have one tree on our property that had 4 on it at one time. MBV
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