The superfamily Ichneumonoidea contains one extinct and three extant families, including the two largest families within Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae and Braconidae. The group is thought to contain as many as 100,000 species, many of which have not yet been described. Like other parasitoid wasps, they were long placed in the "Parasitica", variously considered as an infraorder or an unranked clade, now known to be paraphyletic.
The Ichneumonidae, also known as the ichneumon wasps, Darwin wasps, or ichneumonids, are a family of parasitoid wasps of the insect order Hymenoptera. They are one of the most diverse groups within the Hymenoptera with roughly 25,000 species currently described. However, this likely represents less than a quarter of their true richness as reliable estimates are lacking, along with much of the most basic knowledge about their ecology, distribution, and evolution. Ichneumonid wasps, with very few exceptions, attack the immature stages of holometabolous insects and spiders, eventually killing their hosts. They thus fulfill an important role as regulators of insect populations, both in natural and semi-natural systems, making them promising agents for biological control.
Megarhyssa, also known as giant ichneumonid wasps, giant ichneumons, or stump stabbers, is a genus of large ichneumon wasps, with some species known for having the longest ovipositors of any insects. They are idiobiont endoparasitoids of the larvae of wood-boring horntail wasps. The ovipositor can be mistaken for a large stinger.
Banchinae is a subfamily of ichneumonid parasitoid wasps containing about 1,500 species; the genera Glypta and Lissonota are very large. The three tribes are all distributed worldwide.
The Labeninae is a subfamily within the parasitic wasp family Ichneumonidae . There are 12 extant genera, grouped within four tribes, that exhibit a predominantly Gondwanan distribution - most genera and species are found in Australia and South America. A few species of Labena and Grotea are found in North America, with hypotheses suggesting that the group radiated on Gondwanaland prior to the separation of Australia but after the separation of Africa/India/Madagascar.
Xanthocryptus novozealandicus, the lemon tree borer parasite, is a wasp in the family Ichneumonidae. It is a native insect of New Zealand. It is also found in Australia and New Guinea. Females hunt for larvae of wood-boring beetles around March, including the lemon tree borer, a native cerambycid that tunnels into citrus trees, grapes and many native species. When a suitable host is found, the female pushes her ovipositor through the wood and injects her eggs into the grub. This has the incidental benefit of helping to control some pests. X. novozealandicus prefers to prey on second year lemon tree borer larvae. This specific parasite prefers to prey on larger second year larvae due to its larger size.
Labenopimplinae are an extinct subfamily of the parasitic wasp family Ichneumonidae. Labenopimplinae are known from the Cenomanian of the Russian Far East and Turonian of Orapa, Botswana. The subfamily includes five genera with 13 species. The subfamily is highly polymorphic and combines features of the Labeninae and Pimplinae.
Rhyssa persuasoria, also known as the sabre wasp, is a species belonging to the family Ichneumonidae subfamily Rhyssinae. Members of this subfamily, including those of Rhyssa and the allied Megarhyssa, are also known collectively as giant ichneumonid wasps or giant ichneumons.
Megarhyssa nortoni, also known as Norton's giant ichneumonid wasp or the western giant ichneumonid wasp, is a species of large ichneumon wasp.
Megarhyssa greenei, also known as Greene's giant ichneumonid wasp, is a species of large ichneumon wasp. It is known from the United States and Canada.
Megarhyssa atrata, also known as the black giant ichneumonid wasp, is a species of large ichneumon wasp. It is known from North America, where it is found from Quebec, Michigan, Ohio and North and South Carolina to Florida.
Vulgichneumon saturatorius is a species of parasitoid wasp in the ichneumonid family.
Amblyteles armatorius is a species of parasitic wasp in the family Ichneumonidae first described by Johann Reinhold Forster in 1771.
Ichneumon sarcitorius is a species of wasp belonging to the family Ichneumonidae subfamily Ichneumoninae.
Megarhyssa macrurus, also known as the long-tailed giant ichneumonid wasp or long-tailed giant ichneumon wasp, is a species of large ichneumon wasp. It is a parasitoid, notable for its extremely long ovipositor which it uses to deposit an egg into a tunnel in dead wood bored by its host, the larva of a similarly large species of horntail.
Meringopus calescens is a species of wasp belonging to the family Ichneumonidae first described by Johann Ludwig Christian Gravenhorst in 1829.
Pimpla rufipes, the black slip wasp, is a species of wasp belonging to the family Ichneumonidae. It is distributed across Europe, Asia, and northern Africa.
Aptesini is a tribe of ichneumon wasps in the family Ichneumonidae. There are 24 described genera.
Netelia is a genus of ichneumonid wasps in the subfamily Tryphoninae. There are over 330 described species in Netelia grouped into 12 subgenera.
Ophion is a genus of ichneumonid wasps, which are nocturnal, parasitic, and often seen at lights. They are mostly orange to yellow in colour and are endoparasites of insect larvae, particularly Lepidoptera. They are very diverse but morphologically very similar. They have a worldwide distribution but the majority of species are found in the temperate zone.
