HYMENOPTERA > APOCRITA | Parasitica > Ichneumonidae > Pimplinae > Pimplini

A medium size (10-15mm), black species with orange legs, where the female can be easily mistaken for Apechthis compunctor except that that with Pimpla rufipes the relatively short and thick ovipositor is straight and lacking any downward curve at the tip. The hind legs are noticeably larger than the other pairs and the ‘waist’ between the thorax and abdomen is short. Males can be difficult to distinguish from photos, although other Pimpla species, and those of the related genus Itoplectis, have white-banded hind tibiae and are usually smaller.

Pimpla rufipes is an idiobiont endoparasitoid species that targets butterfly and moth larvae in which she will inject a single egg. The adults can be seen feeding on flowers from June right through to late September or early August.

The species is widely known as the Black Slip Wasp.