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Photo#4709
Crown-of-thorns Wasp - Megischus bicolor - female

Crown-of-thorns Wasp - Megischus bicolor - Female
Orange County, North Carolina, USA
May 31, 2004
On a Loblolly Pine, Pinus taeda, apparently in the process of ovipositing. Josh Rose spotted this wasp, and Eric Eaton identified the family from Josh's photos. Josh then did the Internet detective work to get the species. (I confirmed this with the NCSU on-line entomology collection.) Eric Eaton believes the white spot in the ovipositor is an egg stuck there. Josh and I spent considerable time trying to follow this little wasp around and get close for photos--it was almost invisible against the dark pine bark, and it kept very close to the trunk.

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Crown-of-thorns Wasp - Megischus bicolor - female Crown-of-thorns Wasp--detail of head - Megischus bicolor - female