Help with 'Flying Critter' ID please!

[coppersmith]

Have posted three photos in the Gallery of a flying critter that appeared on the kitchen ceiling. Am new to the site. Would appreciate any help please.

[bughunter]

It's an ichneumon wasp of some kind. They're notoriously difficult to identify to species or even genus level...

[Jason Green]

Evening CS,

It's a female Ichneumon Wasp, but as BH says they are very difficult to identify to even subfamily-level. The process would begin with an examination of wing venation, then onto subtle characters around the abdomen, etc.

I have a specimen and microscope but can't even get to subfamily as yet. Still, there's a winter in the distance... (just don't think too much about that yet though!)

Take care,

Jason

[coppersmith]

Thank you so much Jason and Bughunter. How on earth you can sex it, is a mystery to me! Am very grateful! I will google to find out more about its habits etc.

[Jason Green]

Pleasure.

The long tube sticking out the back-end is an ovipositor, which it uses to lay eggs - this makes it female, the male lacks this (though it isn't always so easy to discern, some ovi's are pretty subtle).

As for exact habits that'll depend on the species (which can't be done from photos of live specimens), but often they inject their eggs into aphids, the subsequent larva develops inside which kills it. The aphid goes a light brown colour and eventually out pops another Ichneumon from a neat exit hole. Others lay eggs into pupae, chrysalis (what's the plural?), etc.

They are pretty diverse, with a good number of other ways of development around other hosts.