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Identification history
| Unidentified | 24 Jun 2023 | LisaH |
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User's notes
A night visitor, initially caught in spider's web, but managed to disentangle itself.
4 comments
GrahamH
wrote:
27 Jun 2023
Ichneumonid wasps are found throughout Australia; approximately 2000 species. Adults have a long and thin body with a narrow waist; parasites or hyperparasites of moth caterpillars and pupae, and some species parasitize spiders.
This specimen is either a Tryphoninae, which usually parasitize sawfly larvae or moth caterpillars, or a Ophioninae in which case the size of the ocelli are large ( see the size of the ocelli in one photo of this specimen).
This specimen is either a Tryphoninae, which usually parasitize sawfly larvae or moth caterpillars, or a Ophioninae in which case the size of the ocelli are large ( see the size of the ocelli in one photo of this specimen).
LisaH
wrote:
28 Jun 2023
Thank you! I've learned a lot from your answer, and now know what ocelli are. Sounds like photos are not enough to ID on? I tried to include wing venation, the head and tail - are they useful, or is it really that you need the whole body for ID? Thanks again
GrahamH
wrote:
28 Jun 2023
Firstly, thank you for your interest and questions. Photos are becoming an excellent way to ID specimens, providing that the photos are able to show the necessary characters. Wing venation, antennal length and segmentation, ovipositor length, ocelli, etc are all important. For example, the simplest way to seperate ichneumonid wasps from braconid wasps is wing venation - in the former forewing there is a cell that looks something like a horse or dog head with the 'snout' pointing towards the edge of the wing (you may have to use your imagination a bit, but once seen this is easy to discriminate in other specimens!). Braconids don't have this cell.
So when taking photographs if the forewing can be easily seen and separated from the hind wing, then these 2 families can be readily identified - and then we can dive deeper into the identification using other characteristics.
But certainly photographs are valuable!
So when taking photographs if the forewing can be easily seen and separated from the hind wing, then these 2 families can be readily identified - and then we can dive deeper into the identification using other characteristics.
But certainly photographs are valuable!
LisaH
wrote:
28 Jun 2023
Thank you. I will try in future to separate the wings. They're so delicate. . .
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 24 Jun 2023 05:39 PM Recorded on
- LisaH Recorded by
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Collections
Unidentified sightings
Additional information
- 12mm to 25mm Animal size
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- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
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