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Pimpla hypochondriaca
...suddenly something caught my eye - a dark flitting creature an inch long, with bright red legs and a menacing pointed tail.
16 messages
Gardeners' World Web User
03/10/2008 at 02:53
I saw one of these the other day just outside my doctors in barrow cumbria, i got the shock of my life it looked so scarey! red legs and a long sting, anyway thats how ive come to be searching it, I didnt know the name of it,i just searched insect with long sting red legs, when i saw it fly towards us and land on a window i thought it looked terrifying, i grabbed my little girl and ran off !! "saying thats not from round here"!!
Gardeners' World Web User
04/10/2008 at 22:36
I found one of these this year and last year in my garden. I also found (last year) a parasitised? large white caterpillar having climbed up my window with the maggots of the Ichneumon wasp emerging. unpleasant it may be but live and let live is my motto we need all the wildlife we can get. The great lack of butterflies this year can be blamed on the weather, and not on this wasp it can help itself to one or two caterpillars. I find insects quite fascinating.
Gardeners' World Web User
10/10/2008 at 19:56
Am I the only one here who think these wee beasties are the most amazing creatures? They may have some horrible habits which seem like something from a scary science fiction film but they are very impressive to look at.
Gardeners' World Web User
19/07/2009 at 06:52
We live in Normandy, France and my husband found an insect just like this, Pimpla hypochondriaca,inside his slipper! I think his big toe knocked off a wing and the poor thing couldn't fly away, but it gave us the chance to get a closer look. A little scary but harmless I believe? We put it back outside hoping it could grow another wing, would it? SC
Gardeners' World Web User
29/09/2009 at 16:35
I usually don’t post on Blogs but ya forced me to, great info.. excellent! … I'll add a backlink and bookmark your site.
Gardeners' World Web User
17/10/2009 at 08:10
there nasty looking things
Gardeners' World Web User
28/08/2010 at 15:43
found 2 inside window like everbody else catious at first but love the way it grooms itself.
Gardeners' World Web User
08/09/2010 at 16:37
Hey everybody I have just seen a Pimpla Hypochondriaca in Chorlton Manchester, I feel like I belong to a special club! After staring at it in amazement from the other side of my living room window, I immediately got online to try and find out what it was. Frustratingly no one seems to know for sure if they sting so I'll be keeping my distance!!
Gardeners' World Web User
21/09/2010 at 00:19
I could be wrong but if its the same one as the one i identified tonight and the same one i found when i was a young teenager im fairly sure it can sting. I was moving logs when one got caught between my fingers and then a sting and pain from the top of my finger. An oval water type blister about 15mm long swelled up for a couple of days. The strange thing was the swelling and blister came back around the same time of year in exactly the same spot for the next three years. I still have a small scar.
Gardeners' World Web User
27/09/2010 at 19:50
Reply to Nigel Williams and Taran There is only one way to find out. In the spirit of scientific endeavor, I shall pick up the next one I see, and let you know the level of pain.
Gardeners' World Web User
25/04/2011 at 06:18
It stung me the other day and it hurt but not as bad as a normal wasp or bee. I stepped on it barefoot and it got between two toes. I treated it like any other sting w/ meat tenderizer and felt fine a few hours later. We could never find the stinger in my foot and the parasitic wasp was still alive a day after (he was in my bathroom).
Gardeners' World Web User
06/05/2011 at 20:02
My husband just found one (we think) untangling itself from a spiders web in out garage this evening. Gave us all the shivers yet AMAZING to look at. We managed to get it in a cup and get a good look at it, even took a few pictures of it. Hope it finds a home far away from ours. This one spent a lot of time cleaning its wings/sharpening its sting! It is possible that there may be more in out garage now that we have found one?
Gardeners' World Web User
14/06/2011 at 09:17
I found one today, I'm already petrified of wasps so to see this new big scarey fly, i squirted Detol on it and killed it. I have kept the body to show my partner how scarey it looks - does anyone know if these do sting, as I have read that the thing that looks like a stinger is actually where the eggs come from.
Gardeners' World Web User
31/07/2011 at 18:02
I have just seen one in Alnwick, Northumberland,on the garden table so made an effort to identify it. What a wonderful tool www is, thanks to all those have previously commented on this strange blighter.
Gardeners' World Web User
11/08/2011 at 14:37
Do the males also have things that appear as ovipositors that are not functional, because I have taken a photo of what would appear to be one of these ichneumons, but it has no visible ovipositor. Please assist if you can - I am very confused as all the pictures I can find do indeed have 'tails'. HELP ME PLEASE.
Gardeners' World Web User
28/11/2011 at 18:37
So glad to find out what insect this is. I have found quite a few on the inside of our window when it is open. They have flown off though when I have got near. Couldn't find it in any insect book. I must admit I found the tail quite frightening!

Does anyone know if they sting and if so how badly?

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