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Project Noah Nature School
Labena grallator
Ornate markings of yellow and orange, with iridescent blue-black wings and two-toned yellow and black ovipositor. Medium-sized wasp roughly 14-17 mm in body length.
Suburban back yard in western fringe of eastern deciduous forest.
Female wasp was exploring a pile of dead tree branches we erect in winter as a brush pile for birds visiting our feeder. The limbs likely conceal wood-boring insect larvae that this parasitoid wasp exploits as hosts for its larval offspring. This does not appear to be a common species in my area.
Spotted on Jul 30, 2022
Submitted on Aug 20, 2022
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