Glad That Is Not A Stinger - Learn Stuff

Well, it happened again. Something big and scary flew up on my porch. Fortunately, it wasn`t trying to kill me.

I recently made a video about the Cicada Killer, after one came to visit me and I wasn`t too thrilled. Turns out they are harmless.

The other day I was just chilling, minding my own business, when I noticed what I initially thought was a big mayfly. When it took to the air however, it was obvious that this insect was much larger.

After it decided not to attack me, I hit up Google. What I saw was an ichneumon wasp (also known as a Darwin wasp), specifically the giant variety known as Megarhyssa macrurus.

The most disturbing thing about this wasp isn`t its 2 inch body, but the 4 inch stinger-looking thing that seems like it could pierce your heart.

Fortunately, this is not a stinger, but an ovipositor that is used to lay eggs in dead wood. This species doesn`t have a stinger at all, doesn`t bite, and is harmless to humans.

Similar wasps use their large ovipositors to lay eggs in hosts like Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera. Those are fancy words for butterflies and moths, beetles, and bees and wasps. Thanks high school honors biology.

Ichneumonids may be harmless, but they can stay away from me.