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Insect ID

JellyfireJellyfire SuffolkPosts: 1,139
in Wildlife gardening
Anyone know what this is? Some kind of wasp maybe? It’s about an inch long, and it’s tail (sting?) is about an inch and a half. Never seen one before
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  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 28,544
    I think they were featured on Springwatch last night - parasitic wasp whose eggs are laid in and then eat greenfly.   Friend not foe.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • PalustrisPalustris Posts: 3,984
    edited June 2018
    One of the myriad types of Ichneumon flies. The 'sting; is actually its ovipositor which is what it uses to lay its eggs. As you rightly surmised it is in the wasp family.
  • FireFire North LondonPosts: 17,116
    edited June 2018
    One of the larger parasitic wasps, like Buathra laborator or the Sabre wasp? Did it have a black and white body?
  • JellyfireJellyfire SuffolkPosts: 1,139
    Thanks @Obelixx @Berghill, youre both right by the look of it, seems to be a  Ichneumon fly/Sabre wasp. Classified as a bee/wasp. She lays her eggs in wood wasps in rotting logs in America, and they presume the same here, which would make sense as she was exploring all the rotten wood around our pond. https://www.whatsthatbug.com/2010/09/16/sabre-wasp-giant-ichneumon-from-uk/
  • FireFire North LondonPosts: 17,116
    Lots of keen cross-posting. Lol.
  • JellyfireJellyfire SuffolkPosts: 1,139
    @Fire the body was just black, but found photos of it online, seems to be some uncertainty as its exact name but its one of the Ihneumans as Berghill said. Will have to watch spring watch, got it recorded but missed it yesterday 
  • JellyfireJellyfire SuffolkPosts: 1,139
    @Fire and again  :)
  • JellyfireJellyfire SuffolkPosts: 1,139
    Interesting reading about them, they think they must have an incredible sense of smell to detect beetle/wasp larvae deep inside rotting wood. Just been out to see if she is still there and noticed the log next to the one she was on is obviously inhabited with some kind of boring insect (wood boring that is, I’m sure they are fascinating too)
  • FireFire North LondonPosts: 17,116
    edited June 2018
    That is one incredible ovipositor. It looks a bit unwieldy for small insects like aphids. Seems more appropriate for a camel.
  • JellyfireJellyfire SuffolkPosts: 1,139
    I was presuming something else has created the sawdust rather than her (although its very fresh so maybe not), and the smell has brought her to it, the holes are much bigger than her ovipositor 
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