An einer #Nisthilfe kann man nicht nur #Wildbienen, sondern auch jede Menge andere Tierchen beobachten. Die etwa 4 mm große Erzwespe (Monodontomerus aeneus) versucht dort ihre Eier in die Nester von Mauerbienen (Osmia spec.) abzulegen. Deren Larven bzw. Puppen werden dann von innen aufgefressen. Klingt grausam, ist aber "Natur".

#artenvielfalt #nature #natur #insekten #insects #Hymenoptera #Chalcidoidea #Erzwespe #BienenNisthilfe

Four #wasps from the #Malaise trap (Canberra, ACT) in the week of 19-26 August 2022.

No close identifications yet, but these are 1) #Braconidae, 2) #Chalcididae: #Haltichellinae, 3) #Ichneumonidae: #Phygadeuontinae (should get that one to genus soon, but species likely to be unnamed), and 4) #Chalcidoidea.

All on #iNaturalist if anyone wants to progress their identification:

https://inaturalist.org/observations?on=2022-08-26&place_id=any&q=ArabaBioscan&user_id=dhobern&verifiable=any

Images all taken using a @leicamicrosystems #microscope

#entomology #Hymenoptera

Observations

Observations by Donald Hobern on August 26, 2022

iNaturalist

@entospace @parasitoidrex Ok, you've convinced me. TBH I generally prefer to consume lectures/workshops on video because I can control the playback speed.

I'd certainly like to get better at finding the correct families in #Chalcidoidea and #Platygastroidea ...

I've registered. Now the challenge will be setting aside enough hours to keep up.