sippyjug104 wrote:
This is a focused stacked image of my preserved Ichneumon Wasp using a 10X microscope objective as the optic for the camera. I've included a snapshot of it staged before the camera to show a perspective of its size and the working distance of the subject and the microscope objective.
"Ichneumons are the largest family of any of the animals, with some 60,000 to 100,000 species worldwide. They are common and can be found in nearly all habitats. The name “ichneumon” comes from Greek words meaning “tracker” and “footprint,” and the females of these parasitic wasps certainly do hunt for, and track down, their various host species."
"The young of ichneumons are mostly internal parasitoids of insect larvae in families including the beetles; the butterflies and moths; and the ants, bees, and wasps; plus flies and spiders. The mother ichneumon typically inserts her eggs into the body of the host — usually a grub or caterpillar — and the hungry larval ichneumons, devouring their hosts from the inside, usually end up killing their hosts by the time they are ready to pupate and become adult ichneumons. The fact that they usually end up killing their hosts explains why they are called parasitoids as opposed to parasites."
This is a focused stacked image of my preserved Ic... (
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