GIANT ICHNEUMON WASPS

Among North America's most spectacular insects, the giant ichneumon wasps of the genus Megarhysa are found throughout most of the continent. Some females exceed seven inches in length, including the long ovipositor, which can bore deep into solid wood to reach the wood-eating larvae which these wasps parasitize. The eggs are laid singly in the chamber of each victim, typically the larva of a horntail wasp (family Siricidae). The larval ichneumon slowly consumes its living host, saving its vital organs for last.
Unfortunately, giant ichneumons are rare in my area, and I've seen but a handful here. In Toronto I once saw five female Megarhysa wasps ovipositing into the same oak tree, forming a perfect vertical line. My assumption was that their wood-boring hosts preferred either to live on the warmest or coolest side of the trunk. It was overcast, close to noon, and I had no compass, so whether they were seeking or avoiding heat is still a mystery to me.

This painting depicts a very rare urban ichneumon species that parasitizes vertebrates and attains unbelievable proportions.
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illustrations: Oviposition (2000) [entire and detail] acrylic 20" x 17"