Ichneumon Wasp

Coelichneumon navus.

Perhaps a 'house' critter, rather a yard critter. That's a colander it is posing on in my kitchen.

I was preparing Thanksgiving dinner, the colander used in the preparation of mashed potatoes, and cleaning things as I went along. The colander, having performed its service, was sitting on the counter drying when I noticed and unexpected Thanksgiving guest.

I'm not entirely sure of the ID. I posted the images on BugGuide, and they were only identified to genus, Coeichneumon. But looking at the images of the species in this genus, C. navus seemed to be a match. And this species has been found in the area.

Now, there are upwards of 60,000 species of Ichneumon Wasps, perhaps even as many as 100,000, many of which have not yet been scientifically described. So my particular critter may not even be in BugGuide.

But whatever it is, it was here and has now been immortalized as a yard critter.

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You may have noticed a post or two this year about caterpillars found in the yard and surrounding area. This critter, like many Ichneumon Wasps, are caterpillar parasites. So no surprise to find one in the yard.

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You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here