ichneumon — ODE

ichneumon /ɪkˈnjuːmən

▸ noun

1 (also ichneumon wasp or ichneumon fly) a slender parasitic wasp with long antennae, which deposits its eggs in, on, or near the larvae of other insects.

Family Ichneumonidae, order Hymenoptera: numerous genera and species.

2 another term for Egyptian mongoose

– ORIGIN late 15th century (in ichneumon (sense 2 of the noun)): via Latin from Greek ikhneumōn ‘tracker’, from ikhneuein ‘to track’, from ikhnos ‘track, footstep’.