Wood wasp / Te katipō rākau. Image: Mary Cooper
- Pūtoi
- Order
- Hymenoptera
- Whānau
- Family
- Siricidae
Te Rahi
- He pepeke rahi, e 35 mm pea te roa.
Size range
- Large insect, up to 35 mm long
Te Tītaringa
- I tau mai ki Aotearoa mai i Ūropi i mua i te tau 1900, kua rarau te noho puta noa i te motu.
Distribution
- Arrived from Europe before 1900, now established throughout New Zealand
Te Huringa Ora
- Tukuna ai e te uwha ngā hua ki te taitea o te paina, me te kuhu atu anō i tētahi momo harore i te taha.
- Ko ngā rākau kāore e tino kaha ana te tipu ngā mea ka kaha te urutomokia.
- Ka wiri haere ngā torongū i ngā wāhanga o te rākau kua pirau haere, me te kai anō i taua harore. Ka huri hei ngeti ki tōna anō whaitua i roto i te rākau.
- Kia pakeke, kua wiri ki te mata whakawaho o te rākau, he kōhao nui tonu (e 3–6.6 mm te whānui) ka mahue iho.
- Kāore ngā pakeke e kai; ka ora noa i ngā mōmona kei ō rātou tinana.
Life history
- Eggs are deposited by females in sapwood of pine trees, introducing a fungus at the same time
- Usually less vigorous trees are attacked
- The larvae tunnel through infected wood, feeding on the fungus and pupate in a chamber in the wood
- Adults bore their way to the surface, leaving a sizeable hole, 3–6.6 mm in diameter
- Adults do not feed, they live on fat stored in their bodies
![wood wasp [Sirex noctilio]. Image: Rudolf Černý / CC BY-NC Image](/assets/Tools-And-Resources/Identification/What-is-this-bug/Sirex_noctilio__ScaleWidthWzEwMjRd.jpg)