What IS this?!?

[hap]

It is a specimen of Tremex columba, commonly called a "Pigeon Horntail". The female uses the ovipositor to lay eggs in certain types of wood, and the larvae feed on the wood. I know this species will bore in dead and dying maples, ash, and elms among others. It is not a "cicada killer" wasp (Sphecius speciosus) and it has a totally different life history.

Another example of how confusing and misleading the use of common names can be!

Ichneumon wasps of various species are primary predators of this species- as James Smith said, the female Ichneumon can detect the Tremex larvae in wood, and they use the long ovipositor to drill into the wood and lay an egg near the Tremex larva. Then the Ich larva hatches and becomes a parasite on the Tremex larva. There is freaky sh** in the insect world that science fiction and horror writers haven't even thought up.

As a certified wood technologist I have spent more than a little time studying these fellers and you are absolutely correct. I found one this spring in upstate NY while visiting the old family farm (Pawling) and really liked playing with it.

[PRM]

Thank you all for your responses (and humor, too). I was confused because it didn't have the skinny waist of a wasp. And Tim, it was dead when I found it..., so couldn't play with it, Hap.

In all my years I 'd never seen one...now I know. Thought I'd discovered some "previously-thought-of-as-extinct" species. Guess not...