Giant ichneumon wasp and mystery visitor

Photograph by Mark Sturtevant.

Photography Contest, Runner-up.

Giant ichneumon wasp
Megarhyssa atrata, giant ichneumon wasp. The photographer writes, "This large female ichneumon wasp is using her long ovipositor to drill into wood in order to lay an egg on a wood-boring sawfly larva. The smaller wasp riding her is probably a male in the genus Rhysella, and he appears to be mightily confused about his prospects for mating and passing on his genes."