Wasps

[Doug Yanega]

>I caught one of these (I think identical) on top of Smugglers Notch,
>Vermont last summer (late August).  How many species of Ichnuemonidae are
>there in the Northeast (anybody know)?  Where was the photo taken?

Of Ichneumonidae as a family, there are thousands (>3000 in North America
alone) - it is presently considered the largest family in the Hymenoptera,
one of the largest of all insect families (either Staphylinidae - Rove
beetles - or Curculionidae - the weevils - as they are presently defined,
probably holds the title). As for Megarhyssa, the wasp in the photo, there
are only a handful of species, and I'm not sure of their distribution. I
think there are only two or three in the NE, but I can't promise that (my
Catalog of Hymenoptera was lost during the trip to Brazil). The one shown
is the most common, and attacks pigeon horntail larvae. There are only a
few other, less common horntail species in the NE and I'd suspect there may
be a one-on-one host/parasite relationship.

Cheers,

Doug Yanega    Depto. de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciencias Biologicas,
Univ. Fed. de Minas Gerais, Cx.P. 486, 30.161-970 Belo Horizonte, MG   BRAZIL
phone: 031-448-1223, fax: 031-44-5481  (from U.S., prefix 011-55)
                  http://www.icb.ufmg.br/~dyanega/
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