Wasp (Black and white Ichneumonid)
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (parasitic Apocrita)
Superfamily Ichneumonoidea (Braconids and Ichneumons)
Family Ichneumonidae (Ichneumon Wasps)
Subfamily Cryptinae
Tribe Cryptini
Genus Lymeon
Species 3 species and subspecies in the Genus Lymeon: L. cinctiventris · L. orbum · L. orbus
There is world wide over 80,000 species of Ichneumonid wasps. New Zealand has over 300 species with only about 80 named. Many are native but several have been introduced.
Ichneumon wasp species are highly diverse, ranging from 3 millimetres (0.12 in) to 130 mm (5.1 in) long. Most are slender, with the females of many species (particularly in the genus Megarhyssa) having an extremely long ovipositor for laying eggs. The female finds a host and lays an egg on, near, or inside the host's body. Upon hatching, the larval ichneumon feeds either externally or internally, killing the host when they themselves are ready to pupate. Despite looking formidable, the ovipositor does not deliver a sting like many wasps or bees. It can be used by the wasps to bore into and lay eggs inside rotten wood.
This black and white wasp (body 18mm) of the Lymeon genus was found in New Plymouth mid January. Note the white band on each antennae and its particular body pattern which is different from L. orbus.
Head of the black and white wasp
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