ICHNEUMON - Garden Patrol, Parasitic Assassination Sp. Ops

[applestar]

There are smaller, regular sized ones and giant ones. I saw a Giant Ichneumon today. She landed in the carrot patch for while, I think maybe she was drinking from water drops since I watered the garden a little earlier. Then she landed in the Espalier Fence Row and crawled among the leaves. Although she is on the Persimmon leaves, I think she might have been ovipositing in the Arkansas Black apple. Magness pear branch crosses into this area too....

So while it's good that she is here, her presence may indicate a serious problem....

Ugh! Flickr is STILL having problems and I can't copy the links for the collages I made. Here is one photo just for show and tell.

Genus Megarhyssa - Giant Ichneumons - BugGuide.Net
https://bugguide.net/node/view/4158

M. atrata: Nova Scotia south to Georgia; west to Wyoming and Texas

Food
The larvae of M. atrata, M. greenei, and M. macrurus are parasitoids of grubs of the horntail Tremex columba.

Species Tremex columba - Pigeon Tremex - BugGuide.Net
https://bugguide.net/node/view/36832

Food
hosts include beech, elm, hickory, maple, oak, poplar, apple, pear, sycamore, and hackberry(2)
Life Cycle
Females lay eggs in diseased, decaying or cut wood.

ADW: Megarhyssa atrata: INFORMATION
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Megarhyssa_atrata/

[applestar]

[Lindsaylew82]

Dang! That is a seriously long ovipositor!