Can anyone identify this insect?

I'm a software engineer, not an entomologist, so apologies if this is common. I've hiked plenty in Northern New England and never seen another of its kind.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/5rnyE3_g5c7gicnJ9NtzMNzDrZ5McF6Z_SeY52Hc4vk?feat=directlink

Hymenoptera wasp. Comes up every year around this time... "What IS that thing? Is that a STINGER?" But it's actually a long ovipositor; they use it to lay their eggs deep inside rotting logs, etc. Very cool looking critter.

Megarhyssa macrurus - its larvae parasitize wood-boring wasps, so the long ovipositor is necessary.

Thanks everybody.

nartreb said:

Megarhyssa macrurus - its larvae parasitize wood-boring wasps, so the long ovipositor is necessary.

Click to expand...

Indeed.

And, there are several other species of ichneumon wasp in this area -- some very small and some about the size of a regular wasp -- but the method of operation is the same. Regular targets for the medium-sized ichneumon wasps are butterfly larvae, in particular, that of Tiger and Black Swallowtails.

Is the pronunciation ick-new-mon?

cyohman said:

Is the pronunciation ick-new-mon?

Click to expand...

Yes -- with the stress on the second syllable.

This year I let the mint in my garden flower and was introduced to many species of nectar sippers and pollen gatherers. The flowers are over 5 feet tall, so I could get lots of pictures right at eye level. It was heartening to see so many honeybees again, after a couple of years of wondering where they'd gone.

I'd never noticed great golden digger wasps (Sphex ichneumoneus) before, and happily they paid no attention to me, after I googled them to make sure they wouldn't attack. They dig a hole in the ground and lay in a supply of paralyzed grasshoppers and crickets for their larvae.

http://gaiagarden.blogspot.com/2010/10/great-golden-digger-wasp.html

audrey said:

It was heartening to see so many honeybees again, after a couple of years of wondering where they'd gone.

Click to expand...

Off-topic, I've noticed the same this year in our gardens regarding the honeybees -- it is indeed heartening.

audrey said:

This year I let the mint in my garden flower and was introduced to many species of nectar sippers and pollen gatherers. The flowers are over 5 feet tall, so I could get lots of pictures right at eye level. It was heartening to see so many honeybees again, after a couple of years of wondering where they'd gone.

I'd never noticed great golden digger wasps (Sphex ichneumoneus) before, and happily they paid no attention to me, after I googled them to make sure they wouldn't attack. They dig a hole in the ground and lay in a supply of paralyzed grasshoppers and crickets for their larvae.

http://gaiagarden.blogspot.com/2010/10/great-golden-digger-wasp.html

Click to expand...

That article was fascinating. This part especially.

"There are several behavioral aspects to this “self-programmed” wasp that continue to fascinate as humans tend to think such rote habits denote forethought and logic. Douglas Hofstadter and Daniel Dennett, two professors of Cognitive Science, created a controlled environment to study the Sphex routines more closely.

After the Great Golden dropped her prey and was inspecting her nest’s interior, the professors moved the prey a few inches away from the opening. When the wasp emerged ready to drag the prey in, she found it missing. Quickly locating the prey, the professors believe her “behavioral program had been reset” as they found that, once again, she dragged the prey back to the threshold of the nest, dropped it and repeated the nest inspection procedure.

During one study, this was done 40 times, always with the same result. This test can be replicated again and again, with the Sphex never seeming to notice what is going on, never able to escape from its genetically programmed sequence of behaviors. The wasp never "thinks" of pulling the prey straight in, but continually drops it outside until she is done with her nest inspection."