Cryptinae

Pretty Cryptinae taken at night in Singapore forest.

Quote from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumo…
The Ichneumonidae are a family within the order Hymenoptera. Insects in this family are commonly called ichneumon wasps. Less exact terms are ichneumon flies (they are not closely related to true flies), or scorpion wasps due to the extreme lengthening and curving of the abdomen (scorpions are arachnids). Simply but ambiguously, these insects are commonly called "ichneumons", which is also a term for the Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon); ichneumonids is often encountered as a less ambiguous alternative. Ichneumon wasps are important parasitoids of other insects, including the social wasp Vespula acadica. Common hosts are larvae and pupae of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera.

Over 60,000 species occur worldwide, with about 3,000 in North America - more than any other Hymenoptera family. The distribution of Ichneumonidae has traditionally been one of the most notable exceptions to the common latitudinal gradient in species diversity, since the family is thought to be at its most species rich in high latitudes instead of the tropics.[1] This traditional view has recently been questioned after the discovery of numerous new tropical species.Ichneumon wasps differ from typical, aculeate wasps, which sting in defense and do not pass their eggs along the stinger (Aculeata: Vespoidea and Apoidea), in that the antennae have more segments; typically 16 or more, whereas the others have 13 or fewer. Female ichneumon wasps sometimes have an ovipositor longer than their body. Ovipositors and stingers are homologous structures; Ichneumons generally inject venom along with the egg, but only larger species, with relatively shorter ovipositors, use the ovipositor as a stinger in defense. Stingers in aculeate Hymenoptera - which like Ichneumonidae belong to the Apocrita - are used exclusively for defense; they cannot be used as egg-laying equipment. Males do not possess stingers or ovipositors in either lineage.