On Tue, 2 Nov 1999, Tim Sterrett wrote:
>           Ichneumon "flies" are slender wasps with long ovipositors. The ones with the really long ovipositors "drill" into wood (often where dead wood is already damaged by breaking or by woodpecker work) and deposit an egg in the tunnel made by a grub. The ichneumon's larva is a parasite on the grub.
>         The "drilling" process makes a fascinating show.
>          Cicada killers look (to me) like European hornets (like huge yellowjackets) and are solitary, ground-nesting wasps, digging a tunnel in hard soil. I look for the tunnels on the packed dirt of  baseball infields and on clay tennis courts.
===========================
Another possiblity is one of the Siricid sawflies.  There are actually
Hymenoptera and many (most?) of them have long ovipositors for laying eggs
in dead wood.  The ovipositors on these species are generally less than
the length of the body.  Ichneumonids often parasitize the wood-eating
larvae.

cheers,
Dave Pehling
   ============================================
  | W.S.U. COOPERATIVE EXTENSION-SNOHOMISH CO. |
  | 600 128TH ST. S.E.                         |
  | EVERETT, WA.  98208  U.S.A.                |
  |   PHONE - (425)338-2400                    |
  |   FAX   - (425)338-3994                    |
  |   EMAIL  [log in to unmask]                   |
   ============================================