Grasshopper ovipositor (the two cerci are also visible)

Female Megarhyssa laying eggs with her ovipositor.

The ovipositor is an organ used by some of the arthropods for oviposition, i.e. the laying of eggs. It consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages formed to transmit the egg, to prepare a place for it, and to place it properly. In some of the insects the organ is used merely to attach the egg to some surface, but in many parasitic species (primarily in wasps and hymenoptera) it is a piercing organ as well. It is used by the grasshoppers to force a burrow in the earth to receive the eggs and by cicadas to pierce the wood of twigs for a similar purpose. Both long-horned grasshoppers and sawflies cut the tissues of plants by means of the ovipositor. None of these examples is quite as remarkable as the Megarhyssa species of Ichneumon wasp (parasitic Hymenoptera), the females of which have a slender ovipositor several inches long, used to drill into the wood of tree trunks. These species are parasitic in the larval stage on the larvae of wood-boring insects, hence the egg must be deposited in the burrow of the host (or, often, directly into the host's body as it is feeding.) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 435 pixelsFull resolution (1052 × 572 pixel, file size: 81 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 435 pixelsFull resolution (1052 × 572 pixel, file size: 81 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A common earwig with large cerci in the background. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... In biology, an organ (Latin: organum, instrument, tool) is a group of tissues that perform a specific function or group of functions. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... In most birds and reptiles, an egg (Latin ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... A parasite is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life in or on the living tissue of a host organism and which causes harm to the host without immediately killing it. ... Suborder Apocrita See text for explanation. ... Suborders Apocrita Symphyta Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. ... Families Superfamily: Tridactyloidea Cylindrachaetidae Ripipterygidae Tridactylidae Superfamily: Tetrigoidea Tetrigidae Superfamily: Eumastacoidea Chorotypidae Episactidae Eumastacidae Euschmidtiidae Mastacideidae Morabidae Proscopiidae Thericleidae Superfamily: Pneumoroidea Pneumoridae Superfamily: Pyrgomorphoidea Pyrgomorphidae Superfamily: Acridoidea Acrididae Catantopidae Charilaidae Dericorythidae Lathiceridae Lentulidae Lithidiidae Ommexechidae Pamphagidae Pyrgacrididae Romaleidae Tristiridae Superfamily: Tanaoceroidea Tanaoceridae Superfamily: Trigonopterygoidea Trigonopterygidae Xyronotidae Grasshoppers are herbivorous insects... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Trunks A tree trunk as found at the Veluwe, The Netherlands Wood is a solid material derived from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. ... Sub-orders Cooloolidae Anostostomatidae Gryllacrididae Gryllidae Gryllotalpidae Haglidae Mogoplistidae Myrmecophilidae Rhaphidophoridae Stenopelmatidae Tettigoniidae Ensifera is a suborder of the order Orthoptera, comprising insects commonly known as Crickets. ... Families (Cephoidea)   Cephidae-stem sawflies (Megalodontoidea)   Megalodontidae   Pamphilidae-leaf-rolling      & web-spinning sawflies (Orussoidea)   Orussidae-parasitic wood wasps (Siricoidea)   Siricidae- horntails (Tenthredinoidea)   Argidae-argid sawflies   Blasticotomidae   Cimbicidae-cimbicid sawflies   Diprionidae-conifer sawflies   Pergidae-pergid sawflies   Tenthredinidae-common sawflies (Xyeloidea)   Anaxyelidae-cedar sawflies   Xyelidae-xyelid sawflies   Xiphydriidae-wood wasps Symphyta is... Biological tissue is a collection of interconnected cells that perform a similar function within an organism. ... Divisions Green algae Chlorophyta Charophyta Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta—liverworts Anthocerotophyta—hornworts Bryophyta—mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) †Rhyniophyta—rhyniophytes †Zosterophyllophyta—zosterophylls Lycopodiophyta—clubmosses †Trimerophytophyta—trimerophytes Pteridophyta—ferns and horsetails Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta—seed ferns Pinophyta—conifers Cycadophyta—cycads Ginkgophyta—ginkgo Gnetophyta—gnetae Magnoliophyta—flowering plants... Families Braconidae Ichneumonidae The Ichneumon wasps are insects classified in the parasitica group of the suborder Apocrita within the Order Hymenoptera. ... The base of a Yellow Birch trunk In botany, trunk refers to the main structural member of a tree that is supported by and directly attached to the roots and which in turn supports the branches. ... A larval insect A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ...

The sting of wasps, hornets, bees and some ants is also an ovipositor, in this case highly modified and associated with poison glands (to paralyze the prey so that the eggs can be laid without the host fighting back, and probably also to suppress the host's immune system so that it can't destroy the eggs or shake off the paralysis.) [1] It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Venom. ... Suborder Apocrita See text for explanation. ... This article refers collectively to all true hornets. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Subfamilies Aenictogitoninae Agroecomyrmecinae Amblyoponinae (incl. ... The skull and crossbones symbol (Jolly Roger) traditionally used to label a poisonous substance. ... Human submaxillary gland. ...

Some Roach-like fish, such as bitterlings, have an ovipositor as a tubular extension of the genital orifice in the breeding season for depositing eggs in the mantle cavity of the pond mussel. For other uses, see Roach. ... A giant grouper at the Georgia Aquarium Fish are aquatic vertebrates that are typically cold-blooded; covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins. ... Binomial name Rhodeus sericeus (Pallas, 1776) The bitterling is a small fish of the carp family. ... A sex organ, or primary sexual characteristic, narrowly defined, is any of those parts of the body (which are not always bodily organs according to the strict definition) which are involved in sexual reproduction and constitute the reproductive system in an complex organism; namely: Male: penis (notably the glans penis... Subclasses Pteriomorpha (marine mussels) Palaeoheterodonta (freshwater mussels) Heterodonta (zebra mussels) The term mussel is used for several families of bivalve molluscs inhabiting lakes, rivers, and creeks, as well as intertidal areas along coastlines worldwide. ...

The BBC documentary Walking with Dinosaurs portrayed a diplodocus mother using an ovipositor to lay her eggs, but it was pure speculation on the documentary's part. The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ... The factual accuracy of part of this article is disputed. ... Species (type) Hatcher, 1901 (Gillette, 1991) Lucas et al. ...