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November 6th, 2024 What in the Woods is That?

What in the Woods Is That?

Play our biweekly guessing game!

Whatever draws us into the forest—be it birdwatching or logging, hiking or hunting—all of us are unified by the sense of wonder we feel in the outdoors. The forests, fields, and streams of our region are full of mystery, and if you stop and look closely, you’ll see all sorts of oddities.

Below find a picture of one such woodlands curio. Guess what it is and you’ll be eligible to win a Northern Woodlands woodpecker magnet designed by artist Liz Wahid. A prize winner will be drawn at random from all the correct entries. The correct answer, and the winner’s name, will appear when the next column is posted and in our newsletter (sign up here!).

Cold Case

We found this insect, with a loooong backside appendage, lying dead on a sidewalk after a cold night. What is it?

Cold case Image

Answer

Often confused for an ichneumon wasp, this is an American pelecinid wasp (“APW”) – the only species in its genus in North America. APWs are parasitoids of June bugs: the females insert their long ovipositors into the ground to deposit eggs on the beetles’ larvae. These wasps are active mid-summer to mid-autumn. Fun fact: the males are much less common than the females, which poses no problem for maintaining populations, because the female wasps can reproduce through parthenogenesis (reproduction without fertilization). For a look at a living APW, see this installation of This Week in the Woods from our archive.

This week’s contest winner was John Bruno

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