Japanese Giant Ichneumon vs Arrowhead Spiketail

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute	Japanese Giant Ichneumon	Arrowhead Spiketail
Scientific Name	Megarhyssa praecellens	Cordulegaster obliqua
Order	Hymenoptera	Odonata
Family	Ichneumonidae	Cordulegastridae
Size	30-45 mm body, ovipositor up to 80 mm	70-80 mm
Habitat	Forests	Forests
Diet	Wood Feeders	Omnivores
Regions	Japan, Eastern Asia	North America
Conservation	Least Concern	Least Concern

Japanese Giant Ichneumon

One of the largest ichneumon wasps in Asia with a remarkably long ovipositor. It parasitizes wood-boring horntail larvae in Japanese forests.

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Did You Know?

Japanese naturalists have studied this species since the Edo period, and it appears in historical entomological scrolls.

Arrowhead Spiketail

A large spiketail dragonfly with arrowhead-shaped yellow markings along its dark abdomen. It is found along seepage-fed streams in eastern North American forests.

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Did You Know?

Females can insert eggs directly into hard-packed stream gravel using their spike-like ovipositor.