Tasmanian Native Wasp...

crocoite · Post by **crocoite** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:49 am

Hard to get at this one to photograph. It was a bit out of reach.

Though not aggresive, when they do sting - wowsers! You know about it. Had one get me in the palm of my hand a few years back. Ouch!

Netgarden · Post by **Netgarden** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:13 pm

Very different than what we have here in California. We have one with no middle, it's the weirdest thing just a straight line where the stomach should be. I don't know if they sting...don't wanna know! lol They are hard to photograph because they don't hold still anywhere. Yours too?

But the yellow jackets wow

do they hurt!

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 5:43 pm

Pretty wild looking wasp there Steve.

That a stinger sticking out the back?

crocoite · Post by **crocoite** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 12:55 am

Ken Ramos wrote:Pretty wild looking wasp there Steve. That a stinger sticking out the back?

Oh yeah! And I forgot to mention the scale. These guys are about 1.5 inches long!

salden · Post by **salden** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:42 am

I hate stings. I am allergic, but I photograph them anyway, I am just very careful.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:00 am

This is an ichneumon wasp (Hymenoptera:Ichneumonidae). The larvae are internal parasitoids of other insect larvae like caterpillars. Mommy Ichneumon injects an egg into the body of the host. The growing wasp larva feeds off the host's tissues, eventually killing it. Some of the ichneumons have ovipositors that are several inches long and can bore through solid wood to reach the tunnels of their hosts.

The ovipositor doubles as a stinger. According to How to Know the Insects (3rd edition, pg.373), "Many females bear a long, nonretractable ovipositor...and will try to sting by poking only when handled. Others have short ovipositors and may sting readily."

--Rik