Unusual purple insect with back legs like paddles

[gary66]

Hi, my first post.

My friend recently took a couple of photos of an insect neither of us could recognise, in Leicestershire in his garden.

Does anyone know what it is with it's strange 'paddle' back legs and very long thing sticking out of it ?

I couldn't add it as an attachment since it exceeds the 1MB limit so here is a link to it pasteboard, from which you can easily download it and zoom in to view the features :

pasteboard.co/4zRos3DDQ.jpg


Thanks,

Gary.

[wollastoni]

Hi Gary

We don't see the full insect on your picture but it looks like an Ichmeunon wasps.

See some examples on Google images : www.google.fr/search?q=Ichneumon&biw=1366&bih=622&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiM5LCFldPQAhXBPxoKHcqACwsQ_AUIBigB

They are parasitic wasps, their "needle" is used to lay eggs into the body of caterpillars that the larvae will eat alive.

[gary66]

Dec 1, 2016 14:08:21 GMT wollastoni said:

"Hi Gary

We don't see the full insect on your picture but it looks like an Ichmeunon wasps.

See some examples on Google images : www.google.fr/search?q=Ichneumon&biw=1366&bih=622&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiM5LCFldPQAhXBPxoKHcqACwsQ_AUIBigB

They are parasitic wasps, their "needle" is used to lay eggs into the body of caterpillars that the larvae will eat alive."


Thanks for that, this close-up should help you see better, the back legs are like no insect i've ever seen (but i'm no expert!).

[wollastoni]

I saw this picture Gary.
You don't see the head which is behind the flower (you can see the 2 antennae in black)

I confirm the Ichneumon wasps or other parasitic wasps.

[gary66]

To me it looks like the head is above the flower ?

Do you have another example of an Ichmeunon wasp with those strangely-shaped rear legs ?


Thanks,

Gary.

[gary66]

Oh yes i see the antennae now, so is it's head and neck sort of articulated? Looks like quite a distance betweeen it's shoulders and head!

[wollastoni]

OK I found it, it is : Gasteruption jaculator female or a very close friend.

More info on this lady on Wikipedia : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasteruption_jaculator

[gary66]

WOW!Thank you VERY much it's been puzzling a few of us for a few months now!

Those rear legs must be very strong!

I'm sharing your solution on twitter, i only just posted about it today :

Thanks again

[wollastoni]

You're welcome

Give them the link of our forum.
It may help some of them for future identifications.

[trehopr1]

I knew right away after seeing your photo that we had before us an Ichneumon wasp species. The abdomen and long ovipositor gave it away. And yes, only the antennae were partially visible. The spatulate tibia's of the hind legs are not unusual among many hymenopterous insects. Here in America our largest ichneumon wasps belong to the genus Megarhyssa. Their bodies alone measure about an inch to an inch and a half but, their long ovipositor measures another 3.5 to 4.0 inches.
They are seldom seem creatures as insects go but, they are really quite a special encounter when it does happen. In the last 20 years I've only encountered the largest species on perhaps 5 or 6 occasions ( usually by happenstance ).

[trehopr1]

I thought that I would show members the two largest species of 
Megarhyssa (Ichneumon Wasps) present here on the Eastern seaboard 
of the United States. In fact, they are probably the 2 largest species in
all of North America !
These are in a friend's collection although I too possess both species in
my own collection. As mentioned in my above post; these fellows are not
encountered very often and they are very cool creatures in their own right.

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