female ichneumonid wasp
likely Netelia sp.
Eh, you can tell I studied entomology 20 years ago by the names I still prefer to use. Apparently, it's now fashionable to call these wasps ichneumons, rather than ichneumonids, as you will find on Wikipedia and BugGuide linked in the ID above. Powell and Hogue state there are probably more than 1000 spp. of ichneumonid wasps in CA. I've always loved the delicate grace of these wasps. These and braconids were featured heavily in my Economic Entomology class, because they are easy examples of beneficial insects that parasitize other insects in a most spectacular fashion. Unfortunately, see that not-insignificant ovipositor? Well, that apparently can deliver quite the sting. A look-alike ichneumonid wasp that does not sting is Ophion spp.
4 comments:
That's a really beautiful wasp, and the spotlight effect shows it off nicely.
Thanks, John. For some reason my little point and shoot does really well in low lighting.
I see these now and then in the summer on plants or even in the house. They've always been calm around me and I got to watch one poke a fennel plant with a longer ovipositor so I guess it was laying eggs.
Hey, Cindy. I can see why you find them in the house considering they're obviously attracted to lights. Some ichneumonid ovipositors are amazingly long, like the stumpstabber (Megarhyssa nortoni). I'm fascinated how they can actually drill into wood. But, I never understood the claim that if the ovipositor stings, then it doesn't function in egg laying. How do stinging insects lay eggs, then? Maybe someone took a comment about social bees, where not all the females need to lay eggs, and assumed it applied to other stinging insects, too?
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