noun
- a large wasp-like insect whose female has a long, pointed egg-laying tube that resembles a stinger
Usage: entomology
Examples
- The horntail bored holes into the dead oak tree to lay its eggs.
- Despite its fearsome appearance, the horntail cannot sting humans.
- Foresters often find horntail larvae tunneling through fallen logs.
- The female horntail uses her ovipositor to deposit eggs deep in wood.
- Horntails are beneficial insects that help decompose dead trees.
- The giant horntail is one of the largest wasps in North America.