There are several different species of Ichneumon Wasp, each with its own color variations. Some are black and yellow, others reddish and striped. All have the Ichneumon Wasp body shape: a thin waist and an abdomen longer than the rest of the body. Members of the family Ophion have abdomens that are shorter than Megarhyssa, but they are still long in comparison to more familiar wasps.
Females may have a long, needle-like ovipositor which is often mistaken as a stinger. The sturdy ovipositor acts like a syringe, injecting eggs deep into wood (live trees, or logs) where the larvae will feed on any other insect larvae already deposited there. It is not uncommon to see females poking around wood in an attempt to find a good place to deposit her eggs. Males do not have the ovipositor so their abdomen ('tails') are shorter.
Giant Ichneumons tend to live in wooded areas and throughout all of North America, though they do stay away from the arid and hot desert regions and scarcely treed central plains.
Ichneumon adults do not eat at all. Larvae are parasites of Pigeon Horntail larvae, another type of wasp that deposits eggs in wood. The Ichneumon larvae will hatch and feed on the Horntail Wasp larvae.
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* MAP NOTES: The territorial heat map above showcases (in red) the states and territories of North America where the Giant Ichneumon Wasp may be found (but is not limited to). This sort of data is useful when attempting to see concentrations of particular species across the continent as well as revealing possible migratory patterns over a species' given lifespan. Some insects are naturally confined by environment, weather, mating habits, food resources and the like while others see widespread expansion across most, or all, of North America. States/Territories shown above are a general indicator of areas inhabited by the Giant Ichneumon Wasp. Insects generally go where they please, typically driven by diet, environmental changes, and / or mating habits.
Colors: brown; yellow; black; orange; red, white 
