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Photo#355125
Ichneumon? - Brachycyrtus pretiosus - female

Ichneumon? - Brachycyrtus pretiosus - Female
Montrose, Laurens County, Georgia, USA
November 26, 2009
I looked everywhere I could think of and then some for this one. Shot in full shade on an oak leaf at midday. She was quite active given the low temps (48 to 52 degrees F). I originally thought it was a Strawberry Leafroller like the one I shot the day before, but, it isn't, obviously.

Images of this individual: tag all
Ichneumon? - Brachycyrtus pretiosus - female Ichneumon? - Brachycyrtus pretiosus - female Ichneumon? - Brachycyrtus pretiosus - female

Moved
Moved from Ichneumon Wasps.

Hmmmm
I'd like to think that if I had ever seen a specimen with this distinctive color pattern, I wouldn't have forgotten what it is. However, I can't even venture a guess on the subfamily.

 
Har! You're right, Bob,
Unfortunately, my eyes are not what they once were. I depend on seeing the photos of such small buggers on a monitor to see them clearly. What threw me was that, in the field, both have somewhat the same zebra pattern, but the Leafroller is whiter. I couldn't make that distinction viewing them with the naked eyeball. Ah, the vagaries of aging............

 
Brachycyrtus?
I started thinking this to be a species of Cremastinae, but then I noticed the stoutness of the thorax, and I began to wonder if it might be Brachycyrtus. The strong indentations of the eyes and the slightly clavate antennae agree with Brachycyrtus. If this really is Brachycyrtus, then this photograph is all the more extraordinary for the fact that, in the coloration of the side of the thorax, it is unlike either of the two species known to occur in North America. In Brachycyrtus pretiosus, which is known only from Florida, the side of the thorax is reddish, and in Brachycyrtus ornatus, which has a wide distribution, but hasn't been recorded in Georgia, as far as I know, the side of the thorax is black. In the coloration of the hind leg, your photo agrees with Townes' illustration for Brachycyrtus pretiosus. On the site of the American Entomological Institute, there is an photo-illustrated Key to the Nearctic species of Brachycyrtus.

 
Brachycyrtus pretiosus
According to Dr. David Wahl of the American Entomological Institute, this photo represents the standard "non-Florida form" of Brachycyrtus pretiosus.

 
Three Words
Wow!! Thank you!

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

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