Ichneumoninae?

Moved

Moved from Trogus edwardsii.

There are some notable discrepancies. T. edwardsii should have a high and conical scutellum, which doesn't appear to be the case here. Also, the dorsal surface of the flagellum should be rather uniformly dark brown, which definitely isn't the case here. Contrast against the below individual.

Both traits appear in the Wahl & Sime key.(1) There is note that a form previously treated as Macrojoppa californica differs from the northern population, but these traits aren't included in the variation by these authors. In comparing specimens, I'm not so sure the angles of the temples quite match either. At this point, I'm also not seeing other specimens with an orangish stigma area (which was also a red flag when cleaning up IDs for some eastern Trogus or Trogomorpha… the latter had some significant issues). One of the most useful traits to verify members as belonging to this group is the structure of the abdomen, which isn't visible. Heinrich included a key to genera(2) (not terribly useful at this angle) as well as keys to species of the genus group (as Trogini).(3) I'll note that Heinrich includes uniformly ferruginous species in more than just Trogus, including both Catadelphops buccatus and Conocalama violipennis from California.

This almost certainly isn't T. edwardsii given both references. I'd opt against placing this further the time being, considering that this angle really can't be run through Heinrich's key to genera. It still may be worth noting that the color of the flagellum looks to be as described under Conocalama violipennis. If the scutellum is indeed flat and not high and conical as it appears to me, that would also align with the genus.

… Jonathan Hoskins, 9 May, 2023 - 2:34am

Moved

Moved from Ichneumon Wasps.

… Aaron Schusteff, 20 April, 2019 - 10:29am

Trogus edwardsiii…

Caterpillars of the Western Tiger Swallowtail are the only confirmed hosts.

See reference here.

… Ross Hill, 19 April, 2019 - 9:47am

Trogus edwardsii is a good hypothesis

I found a description of T. edwardsii here and photos of two species from the Spencer Museum collection at the UBC (see last two rows of images at this link).

Seems like a pretty good match...though (per the description linked to above) the head & thorax have appreciably more black in this UBC dorsal image; and the antennae are uniformly darker than mine in that photo as well as in Joyce's post below:

I wish I'd gotten more photos showing more diagnostic details (e.g. a view of the abdomen, and a frontal view of the face! It was ~7 yrs ago, but I remember the photo was taken early in the morning (before 6 am) as I was rushing off to meet others 100's of miles to the east in the desert at 10 am for a field trip to the Kingston Mnts. Now I realize I should've taken a few more shots, as the ichneumonid was probably torpid & cooperative in the morning cold.

Assuming this is Trogus, Joyce's comment that all the CA specimens of Trogus at the Essig Museum were placed as T. edwardsii is strongly suggestive of that ID here. But I'll try to get some more support for the ID.

… Aaron Schusteff, 19 April, 2019 - 3:09pm

Range…

Wahl's revison of the genus Trogus here, seems to suggest that T. edwardsii is the only known species found in California.

… Ross Hill, 19 April, 2019 - 4:21pm

Thanks Ross!

I had checked the publisher's site and the similar "ResearchGate" link which didn't have the full-text, but I didn't check the "Academia" link ;-)

You're right, the discussion and range maps in Wahl & Sime(2006) indicate Trogus edwardsii is the only species in California...and the key (i.e in the "triplet" at break 8) and comments on pp. 591-592 on varying degrees of melanism in the species explain the discrepancy between the almost entirely brick-red thorax & head here and in Joyce's post versus the presence of a lot more darkened areas on those parts in the UBC specimen. My individual still seems anomalous in its paler (i.e. ferruginous vs. black) coloring of the upper surface of the antennae...but c'est la vie I suppose ;-)

So, assuming this is Trogus from the overall gestalt, the species placement as T. edwardsii is sound. (I tried to find a key that would substantiate the genus ID...but was unsuccessful. And even if I had, it seems many salient characters would not be visible or discernible in my photo.)

… Aaron Schusteff, 20 April, 2019 - 10:29am