Long, tubular bodies have prominent yellow bands at the end of the abdomen.

They're sometimes called 'Giant Horntails' for obvious reasons. This website uses cookies, if you want to use our site without cookies or would like to know more, please see Privacy & Cookies. The last tergite of the abdomen has a strong, projecting spike, thus giving the group its common name of horntail. The larvae will tunnel and feed on the wood for up to 2 to 4 years, but if the wood is cut and dried the larval life may be prolonged 7 to 8 years. There are approximately 500 species present in Britain. Back to the main Bees, Wasps and Ants page. Sawflies, as the name suggests, possess a saw-like ovipositor that has a sharp edge with teeth (or teeth upon teeth) to saw into leaves or trees to lay eggs. A Greater Horntail (Urocerus gigas) laying eggs within wood using a long ovipositor that is often mistaken for a sting.

The second part of the name may be confusing as they are not true flies. The Cimbicidae are medium to large, dumpy species with antennae that end in a club.

Some Wood Wasps form a symbiotic relationship with certain fungi. Greater Horntail Wasp Urocerus gigas (Linnaeus, 1758) A large insect and of fearsome appearance, with even the common name deemed by many as being threatening, just by using the name Wasp. Bees, Wasps and Ants (Order: Hymenoptera), Copyright © 1997-2020 Amateur Entomologists' Society. These impressive insects are completely harmless.Photograph by Holger Gröschl licensed under Creative Commons. Special features: Great Wood Wasps are often mistaken for Hornets because they look similar to a wasp but considerably larger. Wood Wasps are so named because they feed on wood as larvae. Though adults appear menacing to humans, Banded Horntails are not aggressive and do not sting nor bite. Females are 15–35mm long and males are 13–32mm long. Females are dark, metallic-blue with amber-coloured legs and wings and have a prominent ovipositor (egg-laying apparatus, 'sting') projecting from below the abdomen.

Many people believe the long ovipositor is a sting, it is not and these insects are harmless. This is a very large (up to 4 cm long) sawfly with a distinctive yellow and black banded abdomen.

The eggs are laid in the wood of conifers such as Douglas fir, pine, spruce, and larch. Urocerus gigas (giant woodwasp, banded horntail, greater horntail) is a species of sawfly, native to the Palearctic realm and North Africa.Adults are usually between 10 and 40 millimetres (1 ⁄ … The giant woodwasp or horntail, Urocerus gigas, has a long ovipositor, which with its black and yellow colouration make it a good mimic of a hornet.

The larvae eat tunnels in the wood, causing economic damage. The presence of the fungi in the wood is necessary for the insect's larval development, the fungus being spread from tree to tree by the female ovipositor.

Some oviposit into the base of flowers and the larvae feed in the developing fruit, which usually falls off when the larva is mature.

The insects must have been living in the wooden boxes that the bullets were stored in. One interesting story is that during the Crimean War the larvae of Sirex juvencus (Siricidae) were found chewing their way through lead bullets. Many people believe the long ovipositor is a sting, it is not and these insects are harmless.
The larvae of Caliroa ceri (Tenthredinidae) are covered with slime and therefore appear very glossy. They are commonly found in the UK and are seen most frequently in …

Females have what appear to be two 'stingers'.

Some look very impressive, such as the Greater Horntail (Urocerus gigas), due to their large size and a needle-like ovipositor projecting well beyond the apex of abdomen.
Some are external feeders that skeletonise leaves. Wood-wasps, also known as giant horntails, are a type of massive sawfly that is related to wasps. The Blasticotomidae, of which there is only one very rare species in Britain, bores into ferns, exuding a ball of froth.


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