Ichneumon Wasp

The Ichneumonidae, also known as ichneumon wasps or Darwin wasps, are a family of parasitoid wasps in the order Hymenoptera and one of the most diverse groups within it, with roughly 25,000 species described as of 2016, a figure likely representing less than a quarter of their true richness. With very few exceptions, ichneumonid wasps attack the immature stages of other insects and spiders, eventually killing their hosts, and they play an important role as regulators of insect populations in both natural and semi-natural systems, making them promising agents for biological control.