Ichneumonidae is a very large family of narrow-waisted wasps. It is the largest family of insects. There are an estimated 60,000 species in 39 subfamilies worldwide, but currently only about 25,000 species have been described. There are about 5,000 described species in almost 500 genera in 36 subfamilies in North America, and at least 744 species in at least 17 subfamilies in Minnesota. Ichneumonidae occur worldwide on all continents except Antarctica. According to BugGuide.net, they are “common almost everywhere.”

Photo by Alfredo Colon

Almost all ichneumonid wasps inject their eggs into the body of a host or lay their eggs on the surface of a host. Very few lay their eggs in the ground. When the eggs hatch the larvae consume the still living host.

Description

Adults are ⅛″ to 1 9⁄16″ (3 to 40 mm) long not including the antennae or the ovipositor. They have a slender waist. The antennae have 16 or more segments and are long, at least half as long as the body. The females of some species have a very long ovipositor which allows them to drill a few centimeters deep into rotted wood to deposit their eggs into a host. Unlike stinging wasps, the ovipositor is not modified into a sting.

Ichneumonidae are very similar in appearance to Braconidae (braconid wasps). They differ in the wing veination. On the Ichneumonidae forewing, the base of the cubital (cu) vein is lacking. There are two recurrent (backward-turning) veins forming a cell. The first submarginal cell and the first discoidal cell are fused into a single large discosubmarginal cell. The shape of the discosubmarginal cell is said to resemble a horse’s head and is sometimes called the “horsehead cell.”


Distribution
		Sources 4, 24, 27, 29, 30, 82.
10/4/2024


Taxonomy
Order	Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies)
Suborder	Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees)
Superfamily	Ichneumonoidea (ichneumonid and braconid wasps)

Subordinate Taxa
Subfamily Acaenitinae Subfamily Adelognathinae Subfamily Anomaloninae Subfamily Banchinae Subfamily Brachycyrtinae Subfamily Campopleginae Subfamily Collyriinae Subfamily Cremastinae Subfamily Cryptinae Subfamily Ctenopelmatinae Subfamily Cylloceriinae Subfamily Diacritinae Subfamily Diacritinae Subfamily Diplazontinae (hover fly parasitoid wasps) Subfamily Eucerotinae Subfamily Hybrizontinae Subfamily Ichneumoninae Subfamily Labeninae Subfamily Lycorininae Subfamily Mesochorinae Subfamily Metopiinae Subfamily Microleptinae Subfamily Neorhacodinae Subfamily Ophioninae (short-tailed ichneumonid wasps) Subfamily Orthocentrinae Subfamily Orthopelmatinae Subfamily Oxytorinae Subfamily Phrudinae Subfamily Phygadeuontinae Subfamily Pimplinae Subfamily Poemeniinae Subfamily Rhyssinae Subfamily Stilbopinae Subfamily Tersilochinae Subfamily Tryphoninae Subfamily Xoridinae

Synonyms


Common Names
ichneumonid wasps ichneumons ichneumon wasps

Ichneumonidae are often referred to as ichneumon wasps, but that name is properly applied to the genus Ichneumon, and should not be used for this family.

Glossary

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.


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Shelby Flint

Near Loon Lake boat ramp


Alfredo Colon


Bill Reynolds

… climbing all over Cosmos (flower) stalks and branches.


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The Ichneumonidae are a parasitoid wasp family within the order Hymenoptera
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Published on Apr 25, 2019

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The Ichneumonidae are a parasitoid wasp family within the order Hymenoptera

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