This fall has been uneventful when it comes to insect surprises in my firewood pile, until now. My son Ryan was rearranging the stacks on our front deck when this handsome Stumpstabber appeared. He got out his camera-smaller-than-a-pack-of-cigarettes and played with the bug for a while, getting it to assume some dramatic poses. When I got home, I found that he had put the bug in a container for my enjoyment. The first three photos are his.
The above photo is my favorite. I brought the bug inside for a "studio" portrait on my expensive, Dollar Tree background paper (below). Ryan's
au naturel shots are better. After my studio session, I returned the bug to the woodpile so she could finish her business.
The Stumpstabber is known locally by a less polite name. For some fascinating reading, look it up under the Family Ichneumonidae or specifically,
Megarhyssa nortoni. This would have made a nice mascot for my high school in Norton, Mass. We were the Lancers. That might still work since the ovipositor of the Stumpstabber resembles a lance.
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