Thursday, July 25, 2013

Scary-Looking Bug Story

I've been volunteering this summer in the Ada County Master Gardener Lab. The public brings in plant and bug questions. Look what came in today. This is a horntail (pigeon tremex) - a type of wood wasp that loves to lay eggs in dying trees. It was discovered in a dead maple, and the man who brought it in thought it might have killed his tree. It didn't. It only attacks trees that already dying or dead. BTW - this wasp doesn't sting. The "tail" is the female's ovipositor.

2 comments:

  1. Eeek, that is a scary looking bug! I bet you've learned a lot through your volunteering this summer.

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  2. I sure did learn a lot. I'm still learning!

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