What is the fastest, tallest, heaviest, lightest? We love to compare members of the animal kingdom in these terms. One word you may hear too is longest but when it appears in a question it is normally asked in terms of total length. In that case, the Giant Ichnuemon Wasp (
Megarhyssa macrurus), found in the USA, is nothing much to write home about being just two inches long. However, if the question was “
which insect has the longest ovipositor known to science?” then the female of this species would be the answer. And holy egg laying organs, it’s some length.
Image Credit
So, yes. That long thing extending from the wasp, twice the length of its body, is not a stinger or a rear antenna (which might be unusual and interesting). It’s the wasp’s ovipositor, and is used to lay its eggs: but that’s not all. It’s also a drill.
