Ichneumon wasp - unnamed 1

Ichneumon wasps are a family of 'parasitoids' that usually attack butterflies and moths.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Ephialtes manifestator
Family: 
Ichneumon wasps
Family Latin name: 
ICHNEUMONIDAE
Category: 
Insects other

Species description

Species description

The Sussex county recorder for true flies (diptera) has very kindly advised us that this individual is a member of the ichneumon wasp family. The Natural History Museum provides a very helpful beginner's guide to identifying British ichneumonids which explains the difference between each of the nine species of the family that, like this one, all have black bodies and orange legs. Page 29 of the guide shows Ephialtes manifestator which it says can be recognized by a fringe of curved hairs along the leading edge of the forewing. We think that this handsome individual has these and is therefore reasonably likely to be Ephialtes manifestator. It has no common English name.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)
Ichneumon wasps are a family of 'parasitoids' that usually attack butterflies and moths.
This ichneumon wasp has a fringe of long, curved hairs along the leading edge of the forewing.
This ichnuemon wasp has a black body and orange legs.

Details

Species family information

Ichneumon wasps are a family of 'parasitoids' that usually attack the caterpillars of butterflies and moths (and other insects and spiders). Unlike social wasps, these parasites are solitary. Although they share the characteristic 'wasp waist' with their social wasp cousins, the ichneumons are generally long and thin, having notably long antennae (usually with 16 segments, compared to the 13 or less of other wasps). If you are lucky enough to see these flighty insects, you may notice their antennae moving rapidly from side to side, indicating that they are probably hunting for prey using a 'stereo-smell' function that enables them to locate prey using olfactory information detected by receptor neurons in their antennae.

Category information

Insects evolved in the Ordovician from a crustacean ancestral lineage as terrestrial invertebrates with six legs (the Hexapoda). This was the time when terrestrial plants first appeared. In the Devonian some insects developed wings and flight, the first animals to do so. An early flying group was the Odonata from the Carboniferous, the damselflies and dragonflies, which have densely-veined wings and long, ten-segmented bodies. They are day-flying carnivores, with an aquatic larval stage, so are commonly seen flying near water. The carnivorous larvae are called nymphs. Odonata species are short-lived, damselflies surviving for 2-4 weeks, dragonflies for up to 2 months.

Some insect groups in the Cretaceous co-evolved with the flowering plants, and they have had a close association ever since. These groups are the Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants), the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), the Diptera (flies), and the Coleoptera (beetles). The diversity of beetles is astonishing. Of all the known animal species on the planet, one in five is a beetle!