That's a nasty looking stinger, but don't worry Lesley, unless you are a caterpillar. What you have found is an Ichneumon Fly, probably ( Pimpla hypochondriaca ), or a very closely related species.
That long stinger is actually an egg laying device, an ovipositor, and is used to lay its eggs inside a caterpillar or pupa, the Ichneumon lava then eats it's host.
Looks very scary @pej (glad I am not a catepillar)
Thank you very much for the information @markp, It's good to learn, it does look scary to me!
Thanks @gilbertwood, it's great to learn on this site too!
August 21st, 2015
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That long stinger is actually an egg laying device, an ovipositor, and is used to lay its eggs inside a caterpillar or pupa, the Ichneumon lava then eats it's host.
Thank you very much for the information @markp, It's good to learn, it does look scary to me!
Thanks @gilbertwood, it's great to learn on this site too!