Ichneumon Wasp

About the Ichneumon Wasp

The largest wasp family with over 25,000 species. They lay eggs inside or on other insects, and their larvae eat the host alive from the inside. The giant ichneumon has a 13 cm ovipositor used to drill through wood to reach buried larvae. Darwin wrote that ichneumon wasps feeding on live caterpillars made him doubt a benevolent God. They are among the most important biological control agents. Most are harmless to humans. They are solitary and do not form colonies. Some species can detect their host through inches of solid wood. Their parasitism regulates insect populations naturally.