On a sunny day in March we went on a long slow walk with Nels Holmberg looking at bryophytes (mosses and liverworts). Slowing down and getting on my knees gave me a chance to see things like this half inch pupa case dangling on silk strands from a dead branch just above the ground. It looked like it was hanging from the remnants of a spider nest. I took it home and waited to see what might emerge.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUaoHAQUY8QPp538RQ6AWC1VpSigo3m5El0TgcgBXacZBWpWdNGZJDOLw-BcKr57dYZL8760B9ApaO-t6OjfH-LeIKw9Q-D7cHuCbbD0rKR7AHtL9-T2oGBzpHfmdS1E20uMwB29t0mQA/s320/Pupa+case++on+silk+thread+11mm+and+emergant.jpg)
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Female A. wiltii with ovipositor - Betsy Betros |
Like most other Ichneumon wasps, she comes equipped with a dangerous looking but harmless ovipositor, that is harmless to us but not to the right brand of spider. There is a bit of irony in the fearsome tailpiece that can paralyze a novice with fear. The stingers of hymenoptera (wasps, bees, etc.) are actually modified ovipositors, now producing painful venom which can paralyze prey, such as spiders, that a wasp can take back to store as food for its emerging larva.
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*Charley Eiseman has a set of photos in his Bugtracks Blog showing the larva with its spider victim before and after pupating.