Continuing the "Memories of Summer" series (thanks to Evan for posting the pictures) are pictures of some curious wasps found in a field-side log not far from our home. Although I'd never seen them before, I later learned they were giant ichneumons (Megarhyssa species'), parasitic wasps that specialize in exploiting other wasp larvae to lay their own eggs. The wasp you see in the pictures below is depositing eggs with its incredible 2-4" ovipositor inside the larva of a pigeon horntail or some similar wood-boring insect. The horntail mother had already done the job of drilling.

The log in these pictures contained several of these holes, all of which were visited by the ichneumons. The giant ichneumon, although as an adult it may never actually eat anything, is a predator of the most chilling kind. The miniscule egg it has deposited in the horntail larva will hatch inside the larva, feeding off its defenseless host until it finally kills it.

Cruel as this seems, it results in the life of the ichneumon. The giant ichneumon larva will grow and eventually metamorphose into an adult, spending its final days seeking a mate and (if female) laying eggs. The female will use her antennae to detect vibrations in wood that hosts horntail larvae, and when she finds one, she'll implant an egg and the cycle will be repeated.

Why did God create parasitic wasps? Was it to teach us something? Was it to illustrate the controlling effects of our sin? Another reason altogether? The Bible does teach that God provides for his creatures--even carnivores like lions (Job 38:39,40). We can trust he takes responsibility for wasps, whether or not their tactics have been influence by the Curse on nature. God, not man, has propagated and preserved the species.

After the ichneumon had finished depositing its egg, it stretched out its abdomen and inflated the tip of it like a balloon. I'm not yet sure what the purpose of this was; but I was fascinated.

photos copyright Daniel James Devine