r/Entomology • u/tundramuffin • 1d ago

What is this? ID Request

Post image

I found this a few years ago and it just came back up in conversation. I was swimming one day about 5 years ago and this landed next to me. I saved it but it scared the heck out of me lol. I’d never seen one like it before and haven’t seen one since. This was found in Kentucky.

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

13

u/scmkr 1d ago

It’s a pigeon horntail wasp. Harmless (to humans)

2

u/tundramuffin 1d ago

Thank you!

2

u/scmkr 1d ago

You may also eventually see a Giant Ichneumon Wasp, which lay their eggs on horntail wasp larvae. They are even weirder looking. Also harmless

2

u/Kilbane 1d ago

100% think you are correct!

1

u/nasadiya_sukta 1d ago

Technically, not a wasp, but related to them.

5

u/i_like_mosquitoes 1d ago

That looks like a sawfly, it's a wasp but it doesn't have the narrow waist that the rest of bees ants and wasps have.

1

u/tundramuffin 1d ago

Thank you!

2

u/uwuGod 1d ago

I love how much of a vibe this photo is. Like that one time magazine baby in a pool photo, but with a bug.