# Insect Identification Inquiry **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 30, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-inquiry/587378 "2011-06-30T12:57:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-inquiry/587378/1 "2011-06-30T12:57:55Z")
Behind my monitor, on the windowsill, I just found two little dead insects, joined forever in death (and now, in the dustbin). I didn’t have any real camera at hand, so I had to resort to the crappy one on my cellphone, [here’s](http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y150/StephenDaedalus/Buggses.jpg) the best I could do. First question: What are those? I’m in Germany, if that helps. Second question: Is there any conceivable reason they’d die together like that? You wouldn’t expect random insect corpses that close together usually, it’s not like the place is littered with bug carcasses. Was this some sort of insectoid Romeo and Julia tragedy? Suicide pact? Jealousy-motivated murder? It’s nothing significant, but for some reason, it’s bugging me… ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-inquiry/587378/2 "2011-06-30T13:52:24Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > First question: What are those? Wasps. 99% certain they are ichneumon wasps, though with a photo that blurry there is always a chance they are Gasteruptiids or another closely related family. Don’t worry, they don’t sting. They lay their eggs in other insects, especially caterpillars and the wasp grubs then eat the victim while it is alive an conscious. > [@](#): > > Second question: Is there any conceivable reason they’d die together like that? They were trying to find their way out through the closed window and eventually died of exhaustion on the windowsill. There is no particular reason they are close together on the window sill, but on the other hand their is no particular reason for them not to be. IOW they died on the windowsill because they were attracted to the light from the window, and they died close together on the sill through dumb luck. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-inquiry/587378/3 "2011-07-01T09:28:30Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Wasps. 99% certain they are ichneumon wasps, though with a photo that blurry there is always a chance they are Gasteruptiids or another closely related family. Thanks, that looks like a good match, though none of the dead ones had any apparent egg layers. > [@](#): > > They lay their eggs in other insects, especially caterpillars and the wasp grubs then eat the victim while it is alive an conscious. That’s one of those things I always want to tell people going on and on about the peacefulness and harmony of nature, and how we should go back to that and stuff… 😛 > [@](#): > > They were trying to find their way out through the closed window and eventually died of exhaustion on the windowsill. Yeah, I thought it’d probably be something prosaic like that. Thanks for your answer! ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/insect-identification-inquiry/587378/4 "2011-07-01T14:25:37Z")
> [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](#): > > That’s one of those things I always want to tell people going on and on about the peacefulness and harmony of nature, and how we should go back to that and stuff… 😛 I’ve read (in Stephen Jay Gould) that the recognition of the life cycle of the ichneumon wasp shook Victorian society’s belief that a benevolent God had arranged the best of all possible worlds. They are lightweight and have a large surface area that wind currents could affect. Is it possible that they died on different parts of the windowsill, and the motion of the air pushed their bodies together?