wasp - Aleiodes smithi - BugGuide.Net

Moved

Confirmed by Dr. Sharkey.

Moved from Braconids and Ichneumons.

… Bob Carlson, 17 November, 2012 - 12:35pm

Aleiodes smithi?

Looks like Aleiodes again. If so it is smithi. From Aleiodes of Eastern Forests: "Aleiodes smithi is the only Aleiodes species in the eastern United States that has a white-banded antenna, so it can be easily identified even without a microscope. The species is named after sawfly researcher David Smith, who collected many specimens of this species in Virginia."

… Bob Carlson, 17 November, 2012 - 11:47am

wasp

This wasp also has strange-looking eyes with flecks of white if that is any help in the ID.
I also thought it somewhat resembled this wasp

which I posted many years ago.

… Ilona L., 17 November, 2012 - 11:58am

Eyes

It is just the way the light is reflecting off the eyes rather than white spots on them. Looks like Aleiodes to me. Dr. Marsh was senior co-author of smithi. It isn't always easy to recognize old friends from photographs.

… Bob Carlson, 17 November, 2012 - 12:43pm

white reflection

So that might mean that the white is just a reflection in the eye of this wasp, too?

… Ilona L., 17 November, 2012 - 2:20pm

Ocelli

Those light spots are the lenses of the ocelli; in this case, the bases of the ocelli are black. That raises the question of what white spots you were referring to in the other images. I was referring to reflections from the compoung eyes, not the ocelli.

… Bob Carlson, 17 November, 2012 - 2:37pm

perpendicular line

The eye that shows has what looks like a broken white perpendicular line going through it from top to bottom. I was wondering if that was just a reflection from the camera flash.

… Ilona L., 17 November, 2012 - 2:43pm

Yes

I think it has to be from the flash. For some cameras, there are gizmos such as puffers to diffuse the flash. I have an off-camera flash, but I found a puffer to put over the light that I attach with velcro.

… Bob Carlson, 17 November, 2012 - 2:59pm

Interesting how the flash aff

Interesting how the flash affects the eyes. I ended up using a low-tech diffuser this fall when photographing moths -- just a single-ply tissue wrapped around the flash. That seemed to work.

… Ilona L., 17 November, 2012 - 7:40pm