Ichneumon (genus)

Ichneumon is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Ichneumonidae.

Selected species
This genus includes about 270 species:
 * Ichneumon eumerus Wesmael, 1857
 * Ichneumon extensorius Linnaeus, 1758
 * Ichneumon insidiosus Wesmael, 1844
 * Ichneumon nyassae Heinrich, 1967
 * Ichneumon rubriornatus Cameron, 1904
 * Ichneumon sarcitorius Linnaeus, 1758
 * Ichneumon tottor Thunberg, 1822
 * Ichneumon unicinctus Brullé, 1846

Cultural significance
In the eighteenth century Ichneumon was regarded as an instance of the God-given balance in nature; in the nineteenth the possibility of using it as a form of biocontrol was briefly entertained. It was used as the symbol of the reformed Entomological Society of London in 1833.