A large wasp about one inch (25 mm) long, excluding the two-tone ovipositor. Wingspan about 1.5 inches (37 mm). It is reddish-brown overall with yellow coloration on the thorax, abdomen and legs. Antennae are two-toned brown and yellow. Wings are smoky brown. The ovipositor is yellow tipped with black and is a little less than the length of the wasp.
This wasp ranges throughout the eastern US and into California and Arizona. It is probably uncommon in this area. It would be normally found on dead trees where it would be looking for its prey.
Little is known about the life cycle of this wasp. However, some authors suggest that it is a parasitoid of the Flat-headed Apple Tree Borer (Chrysobothris femorata), a beetle in the family Buprestidae. It would use its ovipositor to drill into a tree to deposit an egg on or near the larva of its host.
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