The female giant ichneumon wasp (Megarhyssa atrata) has the longest ovipositor of any wasp.
The female giant ichneumon wasp (Megarhyssa atrata) has the longest ovipositor of any wasp. The ovipositor is a structure that evolved into the stinger in other bee and wasp species, but in ichneumids it still serves its original function of depositing eggs. The giant ichneumon's ovipositor can be up to 142 mm (about inches) long. The wasp uses her ovipositor to drill deep inside a log and lay eggs in the tunnel of a larval wood-boring pigeon horntail (Tremex columba). This wasp has just withdrawn her ovipositor after laying an egg, and the three components have not yet rejoined: the stylet (which is inserted into the log) is still separate from the two sheaths that usually cover it.
Size: 3456px × 5184px
Location: Haydenville, Massachusetts, , United States, USA
Photo credit: © Custom Life Science Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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Keywords: animal, animals, arthropod, arthropods, atrata, giant, hymenoptera, hymenopteran, ichneumon, ichneumonidae, insect, insects, islc, long, longest, megarhyssa, ovipositor, ovipositors, parasite, parasitoid, rhyssinae, wasp, wasps, wood
