Wildlife Spotting

There is only one pelecinid wasp in the upper Midwest and it is Pelecinus polyturator, as Lauren points out, and this is it. It was once classified as an ichneumon wasp, I believe, as it looks so much like an ichneumon. An easy mistake to make....

An ichneumon "tail " is actually the female ovipositor- the egg laying tube. It is very long indeed, as is this. So excellent guess! But THIS is segmented, making it an abdomen- not a long smooth ovipositor. Tricky . :)

This is supposed to be the only species of Pelecinid in the US. It is parasitic on June Beetles (Scarabs). This is a female.

Welcome to Project Noah, memq12. Nice shot.

Did it look something like this? http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/15480061 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumonidae