Bicolored Pennant Ant vs Orange Caterpillar Parasite

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Bicolored Pennant Ant Orange Caterpillar Parasite
Scientific Name Tetraponera rufonigra Netelia ephippitarsus
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Formicidae Ichneumonidae
Size 6-10 mm 12-16 mm
Habitat Forests Woodlands
Diet Nectar Feeders Parasitoids
Regions India, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka Australia, Southeast Asia
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Bicolored Pennant Ant

A large, slender arboreal ant with a painful sting found across tropical Asia. Workers are bicolored with an orange head and thorax and a black gaster. They nest in hollow twigs and bamboo stems and are agile jumpers.

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Did You Know?

Their sting is notoriously painful and is compared to a wasp sting, unusual for such a slender ant.

Orange Caterpillar Parasite

A slender, amber-orange ichneumon wasp found across Australasia. It attaches eggs to caterpillars and the larva feeds externally on its host.

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Did You Know?

Female wasps can deliver a mild sting if handled, which is unusual among ichneumon wasps.