Megarhyssa macrura
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Megarhyssa macrurus, also known as the long-tailed giant ichneumonid wasp or long-tailed giant ichneumon wasp, is a species of large ichneumon wasp. It is a parasitoid, notable for its extremely long ovipositor which it uses to deposit an egg into a tunnel in dead wood bored by its host, the larva of a similarly large species of horntail.
The specific epithet of macrurus is from the Greek words makrós (μακρός) meaning "long", and oùrá (οὐρά) meaning tail. Megarhyssa macrurus has a reddish-brown body of up to 2 inches (51 mm) long. It has black and yellow-orange stripes. Its wings are transparent and the body elongated. The body and ovipositor together can be more than 5 inches (130 mm) long in the female. Males are smaller and have no ovipositor.
The ovipositor looks like a single filament, but it comprises three filaments, the middle one of which is the actual ovipositor, which is capable of drilling into wood. This central filament also appears to be a single filament, but is made of two parts, with a cutting edge at the tip. The two parts interlock and slide against each other.
Although very thin, the ovipositor is a tube and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Long-Tailed Giant Ichneumonid Wasp sighting in Salt Lake City on a given day, based on 42 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 59th most-seen of the 242 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Long-Tailed Giant Ichneumonid Wasp in Salt Lake City on a given day, against under 5% in October to April, the lowest months. That is one of Salt Lake City's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 70 mm in December.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-Tailed Giant Ichneumonid Wasp sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 13 cities where we can rate Long-Tailed Giant Ichneumonid Wasp sightings, Salt Lake City has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Denver (United States, about 10%) and Montreal (Canada, under 5%).
Same order: Hymenoptera
The closest relatives of the Long-Tailed Giant Ichneumonid Wasp that you can see in Salt Lake City (order Hymenoptera, Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies) are European Paper Wasp (about 30%), Hunt's Bumble Bee (about 30%) and Brown-Belted Bumble Bee (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Long-Tailed Giant Ichneumonid Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Salt Lake City (42 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
