Giant Ichneumon Wasp Drinking Honeydew & Fighting Yellowjackets

Megarhyssa macrurus on 9/11/2019 in Maynard, MA
“The skinny, tube-like ovipositor is not a stinger and cannot sting. It is somewhat flexible near the abdomen, but rigid enough at its tip to pierce tree bark and wood allowing the female to deposit her fertilized egg inside of the tree and not on it. Two benefits of this are protection for the eggs from the elements and predators, and close proximity to a food source. This species of wasp is actually a parasite of another species of wasp, the Pigeon Tremex, a type of Horntail that also injects its eggs into tree bark.”
“Giant Ichneumon Wasp: Long-tailed (Megarhyssa macrurus).” insectidentification.org, 8/23/2019, www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=Giant-Ichneumon-Wasp-Megarhyssa-Macrurus