If you keep an eye on dead spruce wood while walking through a northern European forest, there’s a good chance you’ll spot this species, Odontocolon dentipes, searching for hosts.

Like all other Odontocolon species, O. dentipes has a conspicuous ventral tooth on the hind femur, a character not found in any similar genus. Distinguishing it from other Odontocolon species is, however, much harder. Perhaps its most unique trait is that it appears to be more tolerant of humanity’s effect on nature than many of its relatives. The dominant forestry method in Sweden and neighboring countries is clear-cutting, a practice in which entire forests are cut down at once and then replanted. This creates perpetually young, managed, and homogeneous forests, lacking the structural variation many insect species need, especially those dependent on dead wood. Many ichneumonids that parasitize beetles in dead wood are therefore threatened, but O. dentipes seems to do quite well despite the odds. Let’s just hope it won’t be the only one left in 100 years.