Ichneumon (genus)

Ichneumon is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Ichneumonidae.

Ichneumon
Ichneumon insidiosus – Male
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Ichneumonidae
Subfamily:	Ichneumoninae
Genus:	Ichneumon Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
Colobacis Cameron, 1901 Coreojoppa Uchida, 1926 Euichneumon Berthoumieu, 1904 Matsumuraius Ashmead, 1906 Pterocormus Foerster, 1850 Tyanites Cameron, 1903 Vabsaris Cameron, 1903 Brachypterus Gravenhorst, 1829

Selected species

This genus includes about 270 species:

• Ichneumon eumerus Wesmael, 1857
• Ichneumon extensorius Linnaeus, 1758
• Ichneumon insidiosus Wesmael, 1844
• Ichneumon nyassae Heinrich, 1967
• Ichneumon rubriornatus Cameron, 1904
• Ichneumon sarcitorius Linnaeus, 1758
• Ichneumon tottor Thunberg, 1822
• Ichneumon unicinctus Brullé, 1846
• Ichneumon centrator Say, 1825

Cultural significance

In the eighteenth century Ichneumon was regarded as an instance of the God-given balance in nature; in the nineteenth the possibility of using it as a form of biocontrol was briefly entertained. It was used as the symbol of the reformed Entomological Society of London in 1833.^[1]

• 
  Ichneumon laetus female
• 
  Ichneumon ultimus female
• 
  Ichneumon mendax female