Rhyssa persuasoria, also known as the sabre wasp, is a species belonging to the family Ichneumonidae subfamily Rhyssinae.

There are four described subspecies of Rhyssa persuasoria:[1][2][3] This species is present in most of Europe (Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Russia, Czech Republic, European Turkey, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Yugoslavia), in the Australasian realm, in the Near East, in the Nearctic realm, in North Africa, and in the Indomalayan realm.

These ichneumon wasps have a thin black body, several whitish spots on the head, thorax, and abdomen and reddish legs.

[citation needed] Adults can mainly be encountered from July through August,[5] especially in paths and clearings of coniferous forests.

Main hosts of Rhyssa persuasoria are the larvae of horntails or wood wasps (Urocerus gigas, Siricidae species, a type of xylophagous sawfly), as well as larvae of longhorn beetles (Spondylis buprestoides, Monochamus sutor) and great capricorn beetle (Cerambyx cerdo).