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What the HELL is this? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter CJW
- Start date
CJW
Hit-and-run WUM
It's OK, I've found it!
Sabre Wasp Rhyssa persuasoria
http://www.offwell.free-online.co.uk/woodland_manage/ichneum.htm
Sabre Wasp Rhyssa persuasoria
http://www.offwell.free-online.co.uk/woodland_manage/ichneum.htm
Michael Frankis
conehead
Ah good ol' Rhyssa persuasoria . . . . a parasitic wasp that lays its eggs on Sirex gigas wood-wasp larvae . . . remember them from forestry entomology at University
Michael
Michael
Michael Frankis
conehead
I wouldn't call them common - regular, yes, but not common. Most likely in mature pine forest, but also in other conifers.
Wait until you find a Sirex gigas . . . now there's a huge beastie!
Michael
Wait until you find a Sirex gigas . . . now there's a huge beastie!
Michael
harry eales
Ancient Entomologist
Michael Frankis said:
That must have been a long time ago Michael, those damn systematists changed the name to Uroceras gigas ages ago, well at least ten years ago. lol.
Chris, your specimen of Rhyssa persuasoria is a female by the way, the males don't have that long ovipositor.
I see both species with great frequency, but then I do spend a lot of time in the Northumberland forests. It makes you wonder how a weak and fragile species like Rhyssa can stick that ovipositor at least half an inch into solid wood, and withdraw it again. Try doing that yourself with a thin pin and finger pressure alone.
I once let a specimen of U.gigas loose accidently in a pub, it emptied the bar faster than a lit fuse on a stick of dynamite could have done. lol.
Harry
christineredgate
Winner of the Copeland Wildlife Photographer of th
It has hitched a ride on one of the TT bikes ,Chris!!
Sorry to keep reminding you !!
Sorry to keep reminding you !!
steve_nova
Well-known member
I beleive that the wasp vibrates it's ovipositer at high fequency also with a twisting motion like a pneumatic drill? I may be wrong on this....
Fascinating beast all the same.
Harry, that story reminds me of another a mate told me once. As a kid he had collected some Great Diving Beetles from the local pond intenting to keep them in a tank for a few days in his bedroom.
One evening he must have left the lid off the tank by mistake as he woke up to the sound of whirring wings! He was out of his room like a shot too as those beggars can give you a nast nip!
Fascinating beast all the same.
Harry, that story reminds me of another a mate told me once. As a kid he had collected some Great Diving Beetles from the local pond intenting to keep them in a tank for a few days in his bedroom.
One evening he must have left the lid off the tank by mistake as he woke up to the sound of whirring wings! He was out of his room like a shot too as those beggars can give you a nast nip!
christineredgate
Winner of the Copeland Wildlife Photographer of th
CJ ,I do hope you are not serious,CJW said:
