I'm a little surprised by this 1919 description of a parasitic #wasp (#Hymenoptera #Ichneumonidae), the only described species from #Australia in a genus that includes dozens of #species.
The opening #Latin section gives rich detail on coloration and markings. The #English section describes morphology but has nothing about coloration. I would have expected the Latin to document a subset of the English, not to be fully complementary.
Is this normal for some taxa?
Four (parasitic) #wasps (#Hymenoptera) from a SLAM #Malaise sample in #Canberra #Australia over the last three weeks. Natural areas everywhere are (or should be) full of beautiful #insects like these, all just going about their business.
A #FairyWasp in the genus #Mymar - the first I have seen here in the nominate genus - see how tiny this #insect is.
An #ichneumon wasp (#Ichneumonidae) in the subfamily #Campopleginae - probably possible to get this one to genus, but most Australian species are unnamed.
#Vosleria australia (or at least that's the only named Australian species in the genus) - family #Encyrtidae
#Anastatus, unknown species - family #Eupelmidae
Ichneumon wasp that followed me indoors this afternoon, then spent all its time trying to get back to the light through the window. Sharpest insect macro so far with a "new" old Lumix. Though not in the same game as ones like I just boosted, nice to have a record.
Ischnus inquisitorius (Müller, 1776)
Published under #CC0 here https://flic.kr/p/2rCRksv
#Hymenoptera #Ichneumonidae #Cryptinae #Cryptini #Ischnus #Pentax #Macro #Wasp #Animal #Wildlife #Nature #Mywork #Photography
Malcolm Storey created and maintains https://www.bioimages.org.uk , a huge catalogue of high-resolution images of most animals that can be found in the British Isles, except for birds and other vertebrates.
Offers one of the most comprehensive catalogue of #Ichneumonidae images with special emphasis on macro photography to illustrate species-diagnostic features.
Malcolm has been identifying thousands of parasitoid wasps at #iNaturalist – that's how I found out. Thanks so much for all your work.
https://www.inaturalist.org/people/3839145
Ophion sp.
Published under #CC0 here https://flic.kr/p/2ruFLJK
#Hymenoptera #Apocrita #Ichneumonoidea #Ichneumonidae #Ophioninae #Ophion #Pentax #Macro #Wasp #Animal #Wildlife #Nature #Mywork
I made many attempts to get a definitive image of this insect. This was the best of them.
It is an ichneumon, an elegant and extraordinary predator wasp. This female has an exceptionally long ovipositor, used for probing into holes and laying eggs to parasitise wasp or other larvae.
There are at least 2500 species in the UK but this one lacks any dramatic features which make identification straightforward. This would need to be mounted and examined under a microscope. I left it be.
15 years ago today I had my first and only encounter with an Ichneumonid Wasp. It was laying some eggs in this tree (which fell and totaled my car just over a month later, but that's probably not related!)
Creepy looking, but also fascinating.
Donald Hobern
Solar🌄Garden
Gaël Covain
Nico V
Albert Cardona
Quim Morató
LionelB
Jim P.