sp.''
Grasshoppers use their ovipositors to force a burrow into the earth to receive the eggs.
Cicadas pierce the
wood of twigs with their ovipositors to insert the eggs.
Sawflies slit the
tissues of
plants by means of the ovipositor and so do some species of
long-horned grasshoppers. In the ichneumon wasp genus
Megarhyssa, the females have a slender ovipositor (terebra) several inches long that is used to drill into the wood of
tree trunks. These wasps are parasitic in the
larval stage on the larvae of
horntail wasps, hence the egg must be deposited directly into the host's body as it is feeding. The ovipositors of
Megarhyssa are among the longest egg-laying organs (relative to body size) known. The
stingers of the
Aculeata (wasps, hornets, bees, and ants) are ovipositors, highly modified and with associated
venom glands. They are used to paralyze prey, or as defensive weapons. The penetrating sting plus venom allows the wasp to lay eggs with less risk of injury from the host. In some cases, the injection also introduces virus particles that suppress the host's immune system and prevent it from destroying the eggs. However, in virtually all stinging
Hymenoptera, the ovipositor is no longer used for egg-laying. An exception is the family
Chrysididae, members of the Hymenoptera, in which species such as
Chrysis ignita have reduced stinging apparatus and a functional ovipositor.
Fig wasp ovipositors have specialized serrated teeth to penetrate fruits, but
gall wasps have either uniform teeth or no teeth on their ovipositors, meaning the
morphology of the organ is related to the life history. Members of the
Dipteran (fly) families
Tephritidae and
Pyrgotidae have well-developed ovipositors that are partly retracted when not in use, with the part that sticks out being the oviscape.
Oestridae, another family within Diptera, often have short hairy ovipositors, the species
Cuterebra fontinella has one of the shortest within the family. Ovipositors exist not only in
winged insects, but also in
Apterygota, where the ovipositor has an additional function in gathering the spermatophore during mating. Little is known about the egg-laying habits of these insects in the wild. == In fish ==