Species: Ichneumon wasp - unnamed 2 (Diplazon laetatorius)
Family: Ichneumon wasps (ICHNEUMONIDAE)
Category: Insects (Other)
Location: Widespread
A. Insects (Other)
More extensive information on insects can be found in a separate blog post.
B. Ichneumon wasps (ICHNEUMONIDAE)
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.
C. Ichneumon wasp - unnamed 2 (Diplazon laetatorius)
Diplazon laetatorius is a parasitoid ichneumon wasp that specializes in laying eggs in hoverfly larvae, especially hoverflies that feed on aphids. It is between 4 and 7 millimetres in length and has a distinctive white band on its hind legs.
As with most ichneumon wasps, this has no common English name.
Images
Ichneumon wasp - unnamed 2
Diplazon laetatorius is a parasitoid ichneumon wasp that specializes in laying eggs in hoverfly larvae. It has a distinctive white band on its hind legs.
