ichneumon wasp
(Vulgichneumon brevicinctor)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
|
|||||||
| IUCN Red List | not listed |
|||||||
| NatureServe | not listed |
|||||||
| Minnesota | not listed |
|||||||
Description |
||
There are about 700 species of ichneumon wasps in the subfamily Ichneumoninae. Vulgichneumon brevicinctor is one of the most common of these. It occurs in the United States and southern Canada east of the Great Plains. It is common in Minnesota. Adults are black and about ½″ (12 mm) in length. The plate on the face above the upper lip (clypeus) is short and the lower lip (labium) is exposed. The antennae are black with a broad white band near the middle. The band is closer the head on the female than on the male. The last segment of the thorax (propodeum) is long and has distinct faces on the upperside at the rear (dorsoposterior). The abdomen is flattened from top to bottom. The last segment of the abdomen is white. The small exoskeletal plate between the wing bases (scutellum) is white. The female has a short egg-laying tube (ovipositor) at the end of the abdomen. The legs on the female are mostly black. The small, second segment (trochanter) on the hind leg is white. The legs on the male are entirely black. The small second submarginal cell (areolet) near the center of the wing has five sides. |
||
Size |
||
Total length: about ½″ (12 mm) |
||
Similar Species |
||
Habitat and Hosts |
||
Lepidoptera |
||
Biology |
||
Season |
||
|
||
Behavior |
||
Adults are active in the morning and evening, and avoid the intense heat of midday. |
||
Life Cycle |
||
Adult females overwinter. |
||
Larva Food |
||
Larva are internal parasites of moths. Young have been reared in the laboratory on cabbage looper moth, European corn borer, and fall webworm moth. |
||
Adult Food |
||
Aphid honeydew and plant foliage |
||
Distribution |
||||
|
Sources |
|||
| 6/21/2021 | ||||
Occurrence |
||||
Common (CCESR) There are about 700 species of ichneumonid wasps in the subfamily Ichneumoninae. Vulgichneumon brevicinctor is one of the most common of these. |
||||
Taxonomy |
|||
Order |
Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies) | ||
Suborder |
Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees) | ||
Superfamily |
Ichneumonoidea (ichneumonid and braconid wasps) | ||
Family |
Ichneumonidae (ichneumonid wasps) | ||
Subfamily |
Ichneumoninae | ||
Tribe |
Ichneumonini | ||
Genus |
Vulgichneumon | ||
Synonyms |
|||
Ichneumon brevicinctor |
|||
Common Names |
|||
This species has no common name. The common name of the family Ichneumonidae is ichneumonid wasps, and it is used here for convenience. |
|||
Glossary
Clypeus
On insects, a hardened plate on the face above the upper lip (labrum).
Ovipositor
A tube-like organ near the end of the abdomen of many female insects, used to prepare a place for an egg and to place the egg.
Scutellum
The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.
Visitor Photos |
|||||
Share your photo of this insect. |
|||||
| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption. |
|||||
Alfredo Colon |
|||||
 |
|||||
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
|||||
|
|||||
Slideshows |
||
Visitor Videos |
|||
Share your video of this insect. |
|||
| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link. |
|||
Other Videos |
|||
| Vulgichneumon brevicinctor 2-SPOT ICHNEUMON hunting Rob Curtis |
|||
About
Jun 10, 2020 Vulgichneumon brevicinctor, 2-SPOT ICHNEUMON, hunting. Montrose Point, Chicago. 7/26/2019. 1304599 |
|||
| Wasp Laying Eggs in a Caterpillar - Vulgichneumon brevicinctor vs. Bronzed Cutworm Wandering Sole Images |
|||
About
Oct 13, 2011 As we started out on the Moe's Canyon hike, we saw this wasp (vulgichneumon brevicinctor) on the back of a bronzed cutworm (Nephelodes minians) caterpillar. You can see at the end that when the wasp eventually fell off, it wasn't able to move very well at all. It definitely was getting colder and the wasp was probably not going to survive much longer. The wasp is a ichneumonoid wasp, of which there are over 3000 species in North America and over 60,000 species worldwide. The vulgichneumon brevicinctor is one of the more common of these species in North America. The family of ichneumon wasps is one of the largest biological families there is. It was in the study of the ichneumonidae, and in particular their laying eggs in and subsequent feeding upon live caterpillars, that made Charles Darwin question the existence of an omnipotent God. In both the case of the wasp and the caterpillar, I have made my best attempt to identify them with much (near total) assistance from discussion forums. If you feel I have misidentified either, I would love to hear from you. |
|||
Visitor Sightings |
|||||
Report a sighting of this insect. |
|||||
| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location. |
|||||
| Alfredo Colon 8/15/2019 |
Location: Woodbury, MN |
|
|||
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
|||||
|
|||||
Created: 6/21/2021
Last Updated: