Backyard and Beyond

Starting out from Brooklyn, an amateur naturalist explores our world.

As John Burroughs said, “The place to observe nature is where you are.”

Cryptus

One of two similar ichneumon wasps I saw yesterday around the trunks of very large trees. I’ve never seen this species before. This is what keeps me looking.
I think she’s a Cryptus. Note the long, harpoon-like ovipositor. She is looking for moth larvae to jab her eggs into. She kept moving, but hardly flew. Wings constantly flicking. I took dozens of pictures to get these passable ones.
There are a lot of ichneumon wasp species out there. This one was easy to narrow down to genus because of that orange abdomen.
Cryptus albitarsis, White-footed Cryptus Wasp, perhaps. That’s the most common species. The “feet” do look pretty pale in some of these images.

Last licks in before the cold…

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