ichneumon fly

American  

[ik-noo-muhn-flahy, ‐-nyoo‐] / ɪkˈnu mənˌflaɪ, ‐ˈnju‐ /

Or ichneumonfly

noun

1. any of numerous wasplike insects of the family Ichneumonidae, the larvae of which are parasitic on caterpillars and immature stages of other insects.

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ichneumon fly British  

noun

1. any hymenopterous insect of the family Ichneumonidae, whose larvae are parasitic in caterpillars and other insect larvae

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Etymology

Origin of ichneumon fly

First recorded in 1705–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ichneumon fly

But the conduct of the ant, and of some species of the ichneumon fly in the incubation of their eggs, is equal to any exertion of human science.

From Zoonomia, Vol. I Or, the Laws of Organic Life by Erasmus Darwin

Work of an internal parasite, puss-moth larva parasitized by a small ichneumon fly 3 Fig.

From Insects and Diseases A Popular Account of the Way in Which Insects may Spread or Cause some of our Common Diseases by Rennie Wilbur Doane

To-morrow I shall look very hard for an ichneumon fly for you——" "But your discovery will make you famous, Miss Cassillis——" "Why—why, it's for you that I am going to search so hard!

From Quick Action by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

So first he sneaked in here and put an ichneumon fly in my breeding-cage.

From Police!!! by Henry Hutt

Linneus describes seventy-seven species of the ichneumon fly, some of which have a sting as long and some twice as long as their bodies.

From The Temple of Nature; or, the Origin of Society A Poem, with Philosophical Notes by Erasmus Darwin