| Rhyssa persuasoria | |
|---|---|
| Rhyssa persuasoria - Female | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Hexapoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Ichneumonidae |
| Genus: | Rhyssa |
| Species: | R. persuasoria |
| Binomial name | |
| Rhyssa persuasoria (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Rhyssa persuasoria, the Giant Ichneumon, is a species belonging to the family Ichneumonidae subfamily Rhyssinae.
It is found in most of Europe, in the Australasian ecozone, in the Near East, in the Nearctic ecozone, in North Africa and in the Oriental ecozone.
Rhyssa persuasoria (meaning persuasive burglar) is one of the largest ichneumon wasp in Europe. The length of adults varies from about 10–20 millimetres (0.39–0.79 in) in males up to 20–40 millimetres (0.79–1.6 in) in the females, plus about 20–40 millimetres (0.79–1.6 in) of the ovipositor. They have a thin black body, several whitish spots on the head, thorax, and abdomen and reddish legs. The antennae are long and thin. The long stinger on the abdomen of the females is just an egg laying instrument (ovipositor), therefore these wasps are harmless to humans.
They can mainly be encountered from July through August, especially in paths and clearings of coniferous forests.
Female of this parasitic species drills deep into wood by its hair thin ovipositor (terebra) and lays its grubs on larvae living in timber, which become a food supply and an incubator for the progeny, until it is fully grown. Larvae overwinter, pupating in the next Spring, when they emerge from the wood.
Main hosts of Rhyssa persuasoria are the larvae of Horntail or Wood Wasps (Urocerus gigas, Siricidae species, a type of xylophagous sawfly), as well as larvae of Longhorn Beetle (Spondylis buprestoides, Monochamus sutor) and Great Capricorn Beetle (Cerambyx cerdo).