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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) » Black Giant Ichneumonid Wasp (Megarhyssa atrata)

Species Megarhyssa atrata - Black Giant Ichneumonid Wasp

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Male Ichneumon - Megarhyssa atrata - male Megarhyssa atrata - female giant ichneumon - Megarhyssa atrata - female Megarhyssa species, please? - Megarhyssa atrata - male M. atrata - Megarhyssa atrata - female Giant Ichneumon - Megarhyssa atrata - female What type of bug is this? some type of wasp? - Megarhyssa atrata tailed flyer - Megarhyssa atrata
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon ("Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps)
Superfamily Ichneumonoidea (Braconid and Ichneumonid Wasps)
Family Ichneumonidae (Ichneumonid Wasps)
Subfamily Rhyssinae
Genus Megarhyssa (Giant Ichneumonid Wasps)
Species atrata (Black Giant Ichneumonid Wasp)
Other Common Names
La Rhysse noirâtre
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Megarhyssa atrata (Fabricius, 1781)
=Megarhyssa atrata lineata Porter, 1957(1)(2)
=Megarhyssa atrata atrata (Fabricius, 1781)
Orig. Comb.: Ichneumon atratus Fabricius, 1781
Explanation of Names
Megarhyssa atrata (Fabricius, 1781)
atrata = from the Latin ātrāta ('clothed in black as for mourning')
Size
Female: body is 38 mm, ovipositor 130 mm, antennae 24 mm.
Male: 35 mm (body), antennae 13 mm
Identification
Females of M. atrata are very distinctive with a dark black body and yellow head.(2) No other species is easily confused.


Males are fairly similar to other males of this genus. They may be identified by their clear wings, yellow-lined mesoscutum, and dark or black-and-yellow hind femora. They may, though not always, have a darker abdomen. (See Internet references.)
Range
Eastern North America: widespread, reported from Quebec, Michigan, Ohio, Carolinas, Florida.
Habitat
Forests, esp. deciduous forests.
Season
May-July (North Carolina)
Food
Adults may not feed.
Life Cycle
Larval hosts: Parasitoids of wood-boring horntail larvae of the species Tremex columba in dead deciduous trees.
See Also
Other Megarhyssa
Print References
Brimley, p. 410 (3)
Internet References
North Carolina State University Entomology lists all four species for that state, with number pinned in collection: atrata (32), greeni (16), macrurus (79), nortoni (8).
Image of M. atrata
Insects of Quebec page on M. atrata--shows male and female
Univ. Florida
Species Insectorum, p.436    Fabricius' original description of the species (in Latin)
Works Cited
1.Carlson R.W. () Ichneumonidae catalog
2.Key to the species of Megarhyssa (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Rhyssinae) in America, north of Mexico
Victoria Pook, Michael Sharkey, David Wahl. 2016. Deutsche Entomologische Zeitschrift 63(1): 137-148.
3.Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.
Contributed by Cotinis on 29 August, 2004 - 7:00am
Additional contributions by Chuck Entz, ceiseman, PaleoJon
Last updated 1 July, 2024 - 10:49pm

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