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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » "Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps » Braconid and Ichneumonid Wasps (Ichneumonoidea) » Ichneumonid Wasps (Ichneumonidae) » Rhyssinae » Giant Ichneumonid Wasps (Megarhyssa) » Norton's Giant Ichneumonid Wasp (Megarhyssa nortoni) » Megarhyssa nortoni nortoni
Photo#186019
Wasp ? - Megarhyssa nortoni - female
Copyright © 2008 Globug

Wasp ? - Megarhyssa nortoni - Female
Ketchikan, Alaska, USA
July 4, 2006
The tail is straight up in this picture, sometimes I wish I would of saved it but I was sure with my pictures that someone could tell me what kind of insect this is. Hate to kill anything if it is not needed. Would really like to know if it can sting, I'm not sure if I'm allergic to bees.
Thanks in advance for your help.

Images of this individual: tag all
Wasp ? - Megarhyssa nortoni - female Wasp ? - Megarhyssa nortoni - female
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Contributed by Globug on 29 May, 2008 - 1:23am
Last updated 30 March, 2023 - 8:36am

Moved
Moved from Norton's Giant Ichneumonid Wasp.
… Jonathan Hoskins, 30 March, 2023 - 8:36am login or register to post comments

ID
Looks like an Ichneumonid wasp in the genus Megarrhyssa. They use the long ovipositor to bore through wood and lay eggs in the larvae of wood-boring sawflies deep inside. I have seen them in the Sierra Nevada forests of CA.
… Andy Calderwood, 29 May, 2008 - 9:46am login or register to post comments

 
Don't worry...
It is definitely an ichneumon. And don't worry too much about being stung by these guys. Most wasp are actually rather harmless to humans. Obviously there are bold exceptions (digger wasps, cicada killers, and kin*) to this but ones that have become specialists on plants (gall wasps & saw flies for example) and insects (ichneumons, and other parasitic wasps).

* I've only been stung by hornets (in this case yellow jackets) & bees. I did a search for info that you might find useful concerning other wasp stings. :)

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2078A.html
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/bdigwas.html
http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/bspiderw.html
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7449.html
… Jonas Insinga, 29 May, 2008 - 2:58pm login or register to post comments

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