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Photo#444936
Tiny wasps

Tiny wasps
Geneva, Ontario County, New York, USA
August 8, 2010
Size: 1 mm?
There was a small group of these hanging out on the petals of a small sunflower, a volunteer that came up from the compost pile. They were small enough that without optics, I thought "maybe flies," and ran for the 1-5X. For this reason t0o, I don't know whether these are two shots of the same individual or two shots two different individuals.

When any two of these met head to head, they touched antennae, but in the tens of minutes I spent watching (well, OK, desperately attempting to focus, since at these magnifications, there is almost no depth of field), I did not see any of them mating, or feeding, or doing anything more exciting than rubbing the hind legs together.

Images of this individual: tag all
Tiny wasps Tiny wasps

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Encrytidae…
These are parasitic chalcid wasps. The features of this particular family include large eyes, a convex mesonotum, thickened mid-tibial spurs, and a flattened ant-like appearance. Believe me, I know well the difficulties in photographing these guys.

See reference here.

 
Thanks!
Thanks for the ID and the link.

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