identify this insect

bubbler · 09-27-2011, 01:21 PM

Can anyone tell me what this is, or more specifically if I should be concerned?

This weekend I was working in the knee wall attic space of my house, this guy started slamming himself into my work lights... today I had the space opened again for a contractor, I noticed this guy popped out of the attic and landed on the ceiling of the closet where I snapped the picture.

He is possibly the same guy who I saw this weekend.

To me it looks like some sort of a flying ant or something, but it looks like he has a stinger or something on the back?

...whatever he was, he's dead now... just wondering if that was one of thousands (or millions) that are living somewhere and I need to deal with.

I had the knee wall hatch open for hours on Saturday, I only saw one of these guys... and I was personally in there for at least an hour or so total, so maybe this guy just managed to fly in thru an open door or something?

bubbler · 09-27-2011, 01:31 PM

BTW, I would say he was about 1/2" long or so... about the size of a typical ant--not a carpenter ant which is larger.

Big enough to easily spot from 10' away, but small enough that I had to get within a couple of feet to distinguish it appeared to be a 3-segment body.

fabrk8r · 09-27-2011, 02:22 PM

It looks like "Ichneumon sarcitorius".

If that's what it is it's a parasitic wasp that frequents flowering plants and parasitizes moths.

bubbler · 09-27-2011, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fabrk8r

It looks like "Ichneumon sarcitorius".

A parasitic wasp.

Thanks, you may be right...

Tho comparing to a GIS for that name the differences seem to be that his stinger was very long, and the back of his body was thin and not very colorful (tho it did have the alternating stripes).

Maybe this is a larvae or something that hatched due to recently warmer weather?

I'm still hoping this guy came from outside and not my attic... I can't get into the upper attic to inspect, it's too tight for me to fit... I don't think I have any vents up there (except the ridge vent), yet when I'm in the back knee wall I can hear the roar of traffic out front very clearly, so it makes me wonder if there used to be gable vents and they simply slapped the vinyl siding up over them 20 years ago... maybe I have a wasps nest up there and don't know it... (we've never heard anything, nor have we had any of these guys in the house--but the attic hatches have been sealed since ~April).

fabrk8r · 09-27-2011, 02:44 PM