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Story: Forestry research

Ichneumon wasp

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Ichneumon wasp

The parasitic ichneumon wasp (Rhyssa persuasoria) lays its eggs on the larvae of the sirex wasp, deep inside a pine tree. It was introduced as a means of controlling the sirex epidemic.

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Natural Sciences Image Library of New Zealand

Reference: In0136LC1t.tif

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How to cite this page

Margaret Richardson, Forestry research – Combating threats to forests, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/17060/ichneumon-wasp (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Margaret Richardson, published 1 March 2009.