ant? - Gonatopus - BugGuide.Net

Moved

Moved from Dryinids.

… Will Chatfield-Taylor, 14 December, 2007 - 9:02am

Dryinidae: Gonatopodinae

almost certainly a Gonatopus sp.

… Doug Yanega, 2 November, 2005 - 9:54pm

Gonatopus sp.

The picture is adequate to tell the genus, but many of the species characters are tied up in that modified tarsi/claw arrangement. You can clearly see the transverse groove across the pronotum.

… Dennis Haines, 7 December, 2007 - 10:06pm

Dryinidae: Gonatopodinae

Thanks for the help, Douglas.

… Bill DuPree, 11 November, 2005 - 10:44am

Congratulations Bill! :-)) Family Dryinidae

With finding a new family for the Bugguide.
This is a wingless female of the family Dryinidae.
Look at this photo for example:
http://www.myrmecos.net/insects/Dryinid1.html
The female are usually (but not always) very conspicious in having extraordinary formed forelegs with big grasping structures. With those they catch hoppers to lay there eggs in!
Greetings,
Gerard Pennards

… Gerard Pennards, 15 July, 2005 - 3:53am

That's exciting!!!

Thanks for the ID and all the info. With all the hoppers in my weed patch, this might be a good location to find some more Dryinids.

… Bill DuPree, 15 July, 2005 - 4:26pm

Bravo!

I second the congratulatory note! I collected two WINGED female dryinids in Cincinnati, so be on the lookout for those, too.

… Eric R. Eaton, 15 July, 2005 - 12:21pm

Thanks Eric

I'll be on the lookoutfor these and the winged ones as well. I passed this off as an ant and didn't realize it might be something else until I downloaded it. Too bad the shot wasn't better.

… Bill DuPree, 15 July, 2005 - 4:29pm

Nice educated instinct

Nice educated instinct in thinking this wasn't an ant. One of the more convincing ant mimics I've seen!

--Stephen

Stephen Cresswell
Buckhannon, WV
www.stephencresswell.com

… Stephen_WV, 15 July, 2005 - 4:37am

Thanks Stephen...

The head and eyes didn't look right for an ant and the fact it had ocelli gave me a clue too. The abdomen didn't look quite right for an ant either.

… Bill DuPree, 15 July, 2005 - 4:32pm