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Giant Ichneumon Wasp

Rhyssa persuasoria

Photo by jakeh83
Published on Project Noah
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40.7606, -111.891

Field Notes

Description:

Any idea what this is? It is about 0.5" in length and has an awesome stabby device on its rear.

I was sleeping and it ended up biting me in the neck and arm twice. I had never seen one before and have since seen two others in my workshed.

Habitat:

Residential areas

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (4)
John La Salle
Definitely an Ichneumonidae. Not sure what it is, but definitely not a Megarhyssa. Definitely female - the stabby device is the ovipositor or egg-laying tube.
Jellis
Usually other insects or animals. Like the Tarantula Hawk which is a parasitic wasp that captures, kills and drags the spider home and lays her eggs in it to be the food for them.
jakeh83
Looks like that's what it is. Thanks sjl! Hopefully it didn't lay eggs in my neck.
sjlehmann
I could be wrong, but I think the bug is female and the "stabby device" is how she lays her eggs.
Photographed
PublishedJune 26, 2013

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