Subject:  What is that wasp?
Geographic location of the bug:  Mountains by provo Utah
Date: 06/16/2018
Time: 02:09 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  We saw several very big wasps while camping in the mountains next to provo Utah. At first we were a little afraid of them do to their size, but eventually we realized they were not interested in us. We saw them mostly on the trunks and branches of the trees in small groups. Their body’s were long and slender, at least 2 inches long, with long legs. They had a “stinger” that was twice as long as its body, but really mobile and bendable. Just curious what it might be. We have lived in the city at the base of the mountain for decades and have never seen them before.
How you want your letter signed:  Curious Canpers

Stump Stabbers

Dear Curious Campers,
These are female Ichneumon Wasps in the genus Megarhyssa, commonly called Stump Stabbers because they use their long (up to five inches long) ovipositors to lay eggs in trees and stumps that are infested with wood burrowing Horntail larvae.

Stump Stabbers

The post Stump Stabbers laying Eggs appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Is this some kind of wasp?
Geographic location of the bug:  Rural Upstate NY
Date: 06/25/2018
Time: 09:46 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This bug was trapped inside our screened porch June 20 this year. It was over 2 inches long.  Thanks…
How you want your letter signed:  Matt

Stump Stabber

Dear Matt,
This is a harmless, parasitic Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa, a group commonly called Stump Stabbers because the female uses her long ovipositor to lay eggs in stumps and trees that have infestations due to wood boring larvae that provide food for the larval Stump Stabber.  Ichneumons are classified in the same insect order as Wasps, Ants and Bees. 

The post Stump Stabber appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  This bug / insect scares me
Geographic location of the bug:  Goodlettsville TN
Date: 07/11/2018
Time: 07:05 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This see picture has shown up on my front porch. It flies quickly if you try to get near it. Is it harmful or dangerous? It scares me.
How you want your letter signed:  Karen

Stump Stabber

Dear Karen,
The Giant Ichneumon or Stump Stabber is neither harmful nor dangerous, but the lengthy ovipositor is frightening looking.  This is a beneficial insect.  The female uses her ovipositor to lay eggs beneath the bark of trees infested with wood boring larvae, and the Ichneumon larva feeds on those wood boring larvae.

The post Stump Stabber appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Large gold flying mosquito
Geographic location of the bug:  Crossville, TN
Date: 08/01/2018
Time: 01:01 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I got bit by this gold flying insect and it felt like a sting? Just trying to identify
How you want your letter signed:  HH

Short Tailed Ichneumon

Dear HH,
This is a parasitoid Short-Tailed Ichneumon, probably in the genus Ophion.  We were surprised to learn many years ago that this group is rather unique among Ichneumons in that they are capable of stinging humans.  According to BugGuide:  “Most all Ophion larva are parasites of caterpillars.”

The post Short Tailed Ichneumon Stings human appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  What type of Ichneumon wasp is this?
Geographic location of the bug:  Indoors, Salem MA
Date: 08/04/2018
Time: 02:37 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Found this guy flying around my office at approx 8pm in early August.  Length is approx 1/2 inch.  Head is not black, though thorax mostly is.  Can’t find out exactly what kind of Ichneumon he is.  Nothing online seems to clearly match
How you want your letter signed:  Perez

Ichneumon

Dear Perez,
Your images would be excellent for identifying this Ichneumon if the identification of Ichneumons was an easy matter.  According to BugGuide:  “5,000 described spp. in almost 500 genera in the Nearctic Region, possibly 3,000 more undescribed; arguably, the largest animal family, with the estimated 60,000 species worldwide (up to 100,000, according to some estimates).”  The most similar looking image we could find on BugGuide regarding the shape of legs, head and antennae is in the genus Banchus, however, the coloration is noticeably different.  Alas, we will have to post your images and tag them as unidentified.

Ichneumon

The post Unknown Ichnuemon appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Chrysalis perhaps ??
Geographic location of the bug:  Cape Town South Africa
Date: 09/13/2018
Time: 06:46 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi there I found this on our hose keeper.  I have never seen this before and wonder if you could please identify it please ? Thank you sincerely. Cheryl
How you want your letter signed:  Cheryl Combes

What’s That Pupa???

Dear Cheryl,
We are quite certain we have a similar looking hanging pupa in our archives, but we cannot remember its identity this morning.  We are currently very pressed for time, so we are posting your image as unidentified and we hope one of our readers will be able to provide a comment with its identity.

Update:  September 17, 2018:  Thanks to comments from both Cesar Crash and Karl, we are now able to link to another Ichneumon pupa in our archives.

The post Ichneumon Pupa from South Africa appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  need help identifying this wasp
Geographic location of the bug:  Occoquan NWR, Occoquan Virginia
Date: 09/22/2018
Time: 08:33 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Once more I must ask for you excellent help. I cannot seem to find what species this attractive wasp is in any of my usual resources (including your wonderful site, of course!) Thanks very much in advance.
How you want your letter signed:  Seth

Male Ichneumon: Lymeon orbus possibly

Dear Seth,
This is a parasitoid wasp in the family Ichneumonidae, and according to BugGuide:  “~5,000 described spp. in almost 500 genera in the Nearctic Region, possibly 3,000 more undescribed; arguably, the largest animal family, with the estimated 60,000 species worldwide (up to 100,000, according to some estimates.  Those numbers mean that species identifications can be very challenging. Your individual looks very similar to Lymeon orbus based on this BugGuide image, but your individual lacks an ovipositor, making it a male, and your individual has a black band on the hind leg lacking in the images we have located of Lymeon orbus.  So, we are certain that this is an Ichneumon Wasp, we are nearly certain it is a male, and beyond that, we need to defer to real experts.  If you find any closer visual matches, please let us know.

The post Male Ichneumon appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Crane fly? Wasp?
Geographic location of the bug:  Pittsburgh, PA
Date: 10/03/2018
Time: 11:54 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Thought it was a crane fly, but most images I could find did not show crane fly with curled antennae.
How you want your letter signed:  Stacy

Ichneumon

Dear Stacy,
This is an Ichneumon, a parasitoid wasp, not a Crane Fly.  We suspect that many reported Crane Fly stings are actually from Ichneumons.

The post Ichneumon, not Crane Fly appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  What is this flying bug
Geographic location of the bug:  Sacramento California
Date: 11/05/2018
Time: 10:50 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This was buzzing at me fairly large dont know what it is.
How you want your letter signed:  Weirdbug

Ichneumon, we believe

Dear Weirdbug,
This sure looks like an Ichneumon to us, or some other parasitoid wasp, but we have not had any luck with a definitive identity.  We wish there was more detail in your image.  Ichneumons are parasitoid Wasps that are considered important biological control agents for caterpillars and other insects.  According to BugGuide:  “a great variety of hosts (mostly immature stages) is used, though most species attack only a few host types; some infest spiders and other non-insect arthropods.”   The wing veination on your individual appears very similar to the drawing on Le Monde des Insectes.

The post Ichneumon, we believe appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Flies
Geographic location of the bug:  Italy (Rome)
Date: 03/05/2019
Time: 05:42 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi bugman! Upon return from a week out, we found a lot of these ‘flies’ dead around the house, mostly in the bathroom. We had left a basket with walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts in the living room, so that might have attracted them? Not sure.
Anyway, are you able to identify them?
Thanks as always!
How you want your letter signed:  Saverio

Ichneumons, we believe

Dear Saverio,
These are not Flies.  They are Hymenopterans, the insect order that includes Bees and Wasps.  They appear to be parasitoid Ichneumons, a group of solitary wasps that parasitize their prey.  The Ichneumon larva develops inside the body of the prey, feeding on its internal organs until the host dies, at which time the Ichneumon larva pupates, eventually emerging as winged adults.  We suspect your sighting is related to an emergence while you were away.  This occurrence might be related to the basket of nuts, but we are not convinced.  How large were these Ichneumons?  Exact species identification might not be possible.  According to the North American site BugGuide:  “arguably, the largest animal family, with the estimated 60,000 species worldwide (up to 100,000, according to some estimates” and many species are undescribed.

The post Ichneumons from Italy appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Whats this bug?
Geographic location of the bug:  Elgin,TX
Date: 03/25/2019
Time: 02:10 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  This evening for the first time I got stung by what at least I thought was harmless “Mosquito Hawk”.My skin is still very hot,itchy,and burning 2 hours later.One difference I noticed from posted photo’s is much longer antenae that curl on the ends. (Elgin Texas)
How you want your letter signed:  M.McCartney

Ichneumon

Dear M.McCartney,
We get numerous emails and comments from folks claiming to have been stung by a Crane Fly, AKA Mosquito Hawk, and despite our repeated responses that Crane Flies do not bite nor sting, a stand supported by Crane Fly expert Chen Young, folks still claim the Crane Fly to be the culprit.  Your image is of an Ichneumon, a parasitoid wasp.  Most Ichneumons are harmless to people, but one genus, Ophion, is capable of stinging.  Your Ichneumon appears to belong to that genus.

The post Ichneumon Sting, NOT Crane Fly appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Crane fly sting
Geographic location of the bug:  Eau Claire WI USA
Date: 05/29/2019
Time: 11:59 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hello,
I’ve been reading that the crane fly is harmless and does not bite or sting. I was outdoors this evening and felt a sudden sting under my shirt, I instinctively grabbed and squeezed the offender. The sting was intense and spread under the skin like tiny lightning bolts. I have attached a picture of the insect and the bite area.
I also have the specimen in a bag I’m willing to mail at your request.
How you want your letter signed:  Shelly K

Ichneumon, not Crane Fly

Dear Shelly,
We have always relied on the response from experts, including Dr. Chen Young, that Crane Flies neither sting nor bite, and we have had numerous inquiries that dispute that opinion.  We even have a posting with a Crane Fly and what appears to be a sting perpetrated by the pictured Crane Fly.  For years we have also suggested that the perpetrator might be an Ichneumon, a parasitoid Wasp.  In your case, the pictured insect is an Ichneumon, not a Crane Fly.

The post Stinging Ichneumon mistaken for Crane Fly appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  What kind of cocoon did I find on my Cannabis plant?
Geographic location of the bug:  Mount Washington, Los Angeles, California
Date: 06/02/2019
Time: 5:55 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Dear Bugman.
My plants are growing taller and I have seen some tiny California Mantids and young Green Lynx Spiders prowling for prey.  It is funny how I watched the same predators on my plants last year.   There are also numerous immature hopping insects I know are not beneficial to my plants, so I have been squashing them instead of taking their picture, but today I found this very interesting cocoon thing on the leaf of a girl that grew from a seed that came from a Grand Daddy Purple X Blueberry Haze plant I grew last year.  Sorry, but I removed it before taking a photo, so I made a dramatic recreation of the way I found it on the underside of a leaf.  I hope you enjoy my still life.  Please tell me what it is.  I really want to know What’s That Bug?
How you want your letter signed:  Constant Gardener

Ichneumon Pupa

Dear Constant Gardener,
This is a very exciting posting for us.  We instantly recognized this Ichneumon cocoon in the genus Charops from identification requests we have received from Taiwan and from South Africa.  Ichneumon Wasps are parasitoids, meaning the female wasp lays eggs on a larval host, and the larva that hatches then feeds on the internal organs of a host insect or arthropod, eventually killing the host as the larva nears maturity.  According to BugGuide:  “Known hosts include Tarachidia erastrioides (Grenee) and the green clover worm, Plathypena scabra (Fabricius), both noctuids. (Anonymous 1974)”.  You might need to add Ichneumon Wasps from the genus Charops to the list of patrolling predators in your garden.

Pupa of a Charops Ichneumon Wasp

The post Ichneumon Cocoon found on Woody Plant in Mount Washington appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Images of crane-fly-like-insect (probably Ichneumon?) that stung me
Geographic location of the bug:  Grants Pass, Oregon
Date: 06/03/2019
Time: 07:19 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi there. A couple of weeks ago, when traveling through Ashland OR, I was surprised when something I thought was a harmless crane fly stung me! I was so surprised, having always been taught they are harmless, that I took the internet to look this up, and found your site. I added a comment to this thread: https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2017/04/08/stinging-crane-fly
A week later, in Grants Pass, OR, I saw this one sitting still on a wall and was able to get a picture. I can’t guarantee it’s the same thing that stung me, as I didn’t get to see this one flying, and I didn’t get to see the one that stung me sitting still. But it’s about the same size and look as the one that stung me. And this looks a lot more to me like the Ichneumon referenced in some of your posts about crane fly stings. It’s pretty clearly not a crane fly. I haven’t found anything that describes how the Ichneumon flies – but if it’s similar to a crane fly, then I bet this is what stung me.
How you want your letter signed:  Seneca

Ichneumon

Dear Seneca,
As your letter indicates, you cannot be certain this was the insect that stung you, but it is an Ichneumon and it is easy to see why it might be confused with a Crane Fly.  We have also always learned that Crane Flies are harmless and they neither sting nor bite, but we keep getting submissions to the contrary, including a very convincing letter that included both the Crane Fly and the “sting”.

The post Stinging Ichneumon confused with Crane Fly appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Is this a type of Hornet?
Geographic location of the bug:  Bury lancashire
Date: 06/18/2019
Time: 12:55 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I found this little hitch hiker on my car today. Im facinated to know if it is a Hornet.
How you want your letter signed:  The bug man

Ichneumon might be Amblyteles armatorius

This is not a Hornet, but it is a Parasitoid Wasp known as an Ichneumon.  There are so many species that look similar, an exact species identification might not be possible, but it does resemble Amblyteles armatorius which is pictured on UK Safari where it states:  “Ichneumon wasps are solitary insects which are closely related to bees and ants. Most ichneumons are parasitoids.  The females lay their eggs into, or onto, the young of other insects and spiders, and the young which hatch out feed on that host insect.  The host is eventually killed and consumed by the larva just before it pupates.”  There are additional images on Nature Spot.

The post Ichneumon from UK appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  What is this??
Geographic location of the bug:  Southwest iowa
Date: 06/19/2019
Time: 07:37 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  What is this?  Looks like a wasp but for its tail like thing and design on body.  Tail thing comes out of body about 1/4″ from end of body! Coin in the picture is a quarter for visual comparison.
How you want your letter signed:  Concerned Mimi

Giant Ichneumon

Dear Concerned Mimi,
This is a harmless, beneficial Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa, sometimes called a Stump Stabber because the female uses her lengthy ovipositor to lay her eggs in diseased and dying trees where the larvae will be able to feed on the the wood boring larvae of Horntails.  We believe your individual is Megarhyssa macrurus.

The post Giant Ichneumon appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Crane Fly?
Geographic location of the bug:  Ontario
Date: 08/09/2019
Time: 05:42 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I saw this beautiful large insect with amazing colours and couldn’t help but take a picture and try to figure out what it was. The bug looks so deadly but my logic tells me it’s some sort of crane fly that wouldn’t harm you but you never know. I’m thinking someone else might find this insect really cool looking.
How you want your letter signed:  Crane fly???

Stump Stabber

This Giant Ichneumon, Megarhyssa macrurus, is commonly called a Stump Stabber because the female uses her very long ovipositor to drill into trees infested with Horntail larvae, and then to lay eggs.  Ichneumon larvae feed on the Horntail larvae.

The post Stump Stabber appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  What’s this bug?
Geographic location of the bug:  Alabama
Date: 08/15/2019
Time: 10:30 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  What is this?
How you want your letter signed:  Gillian McCown

Stump Stabber

Dear Gillian,
This is a female Giant Ichneumon in the genus Megarhyssa, probably Megarhyssa macrurus.  Giant Ichneumons are sometimes called Stump Stabbers because the female uses her long ovipositor to deposit eggs beneath the bark of trees infested with wood boring larvae of Horntails.  They are not aggressive and they do not sting.

The post Stump Stabber appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  Flying beetle????
Geographic location of the bug:  Cochrane, Alberta Canada
Date: 10/24/2019
Time: 03:56 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Saw this walking along our window (inside)
How you want your letter signed:  Tracey

Ichneumon

Dear Tracey,
Those antennae lead us to believe that this is some species of Ichneumon, a family of parasitoid Wasps whose larvae feed on the internal organs of host-specific Arachnids and immature insects including Caterpillars, Beetle grubs and larvae of wood boring Wasps.  This is an enormous family with according to BugGuide:  “~5,000 described spp. in almost 500 genera in the Nearctic Region, possibly 3,000 more undescribed.”  We doubt it is your species because it is not reported as far north or west, but your individual does resemble Limonethe maurator which is pictured on BugGuide.

The post Ichneumon from Canada appeared first on What's That Bug?.

Subject:  What’s this yellow wasp?
Geographic location of the bug:  Costa Rica, Nicoya Peninsuala
Date: 12/09/2019
Time: 05:49 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hi there! I’m living in Costa Rica and accustomed to all manner of crazy bugs, including having many, many paper wasps making my home their home. I’ve come across a very pretty wasp today, however, which I’ve never seen before. Any time there’s only one of something and it’s abnormally pretty, I start to wonder. I was hoping you could help me identify my new kitchen guest and let me know if I should be nervous about the surprisingly long stinger or not.
(sorry about the dust…it’s a daily accumulation, it’s crazy down here!)
Thanks in advance!
How you want your letter signed:  Monique

Unknown Ichneumon

Dear Monique,
We believe this is a parasitoid Ichneumon, a harmless solitary Wasp, but we have not had any luck finding any similar looking individuals online.  According to BugGuide:  “arguably, the largest animal family, with the estimated 60,000 species worldwide (up to 100,000, according to some estimates”  and “Ichneumonids are notoriously hard to identify: aside from the sheer number of species, there are numerous cases of distant relatives that appear almost identical. Any identification based solely on comparing images should be treated as suspect unless an expert has said there are no lookalikes for the species or group in question.”  Ichneumons are important biological control agents and many species prey on caterpillars.  The female uses her long ovipositor (not a real stinger) to lay eggs inside the body of the living host and the larva that hatches will feed on the internal organs of the host, eventually killing it.

Thank you Daniel!
I used your identification in Google Images and, instead of getting moths like searching my image did, I found many similar images, so I completely trust your ID. She really was pretty and I hope that she finds a nice caterpillar nearby to help her hatch a lovely family.
Thanks for such a quick reply!
Monique

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