Bicolored Pennant Ant vs Parasitic Wood Wasp

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Bicolored Pennant Ant Parasitic Wood Wasp
Scientific Name Tetraponera rufonigra Orussus abietinus
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Formicidae Orussidae
Size 6-10 mm 8-14 mm
Habitat Forests Woodlands
Diet Nectar Feeders Parasitoids
Regions India, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka Europe, Western 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.

Parasitic Wood Wasp

A small, dark-bodied wasp-like insect with a flattened head and short antennae inserted below the eyes. It is among the most primitive parasitoid Hymenoptera.

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Did You Know?

Orussidae are considered the evolutionary link between sawflies and parasitoid wasps, making them key to understanding Hymenoptera evolution.