A little hymenopteran, with phorid-like behavior, hovering over ant nest entrance? - Elasmosoma schwarzi

HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp

Clickable Guide

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29

Previous events

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData

Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » "Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps » Braconid and Ichneumonid Wasps (Ichneumonoidea) » Braconid Wasps (Braconidae) » Euphorinae » Neoneurini » Elasmosoma » Elasmosoma schwarzi

Photo#280158

Copyright © 2009 James C. Trager

A little hymenopteran, with phorid-like behavior, hovering over ant nest entrance? - Elasmosoma schwarzi

St. Louis area County, Missouri, USA
May 24, 2009
Size: about 3mm total length

In years past, I have seen critters that I believe are the same as this one hovering over nest entrances of Formica pallidefulva in Florida, but this picture was taken Memorial Day weekend 2009 in eastern Missouri, at a nest of the same ant species. At both locations, the ants appear agitated and cowering, not daring to emerge when the little "bomber bug" is present, just as ants behave when parasitoid phorid flies are present, but this creature does not appear to be a fly ... maybe rather a hymenopteran of some sort?

Images of this individual: tag all

A little hymenopteran, with phorid-like behavior, hovering over ant nest entrance? - Elasmosoma schwarzi

small hymenopteran hovering over ant nest entrance - Elasmosoma schwarzi

tag · login or register to post comments

Contributed by James C. Trager on 26 May, 2009 - 6:02pm
Last updated 5 October, 2009 - 5:35pm

YouTube video of a related critter

Not sure if anyone is still subscribed to this thread, but if so, you'll want to see this video from Europe of Elasmosoma luxemburgensis attacking Formica rufibarbis. Worth watching till the very end.

… James C. Trager, 30 August, 2011 - 11:48am

Very cool

Thanks for sharing, James.

… George Waldren, 30 August, 2011 - 1:21pm

Four species attack four different ants

This and three addtional videos by the same authors, of various realtives of this wasplet, attacking four different European formicine ants here: http://www.entsoc.org/buzz/parasite-wasps-attack-slow-motion.
There are interesting differences in details of angle and mode of attack among the species.

… James C. Trager, 10 November, 2011 - 7:01am

Fascinating

Thanks for sharing, James.

… Tim Turner, 11 July, 2016 - 6:46pm

Thanks

Very nice

… John R. Maxwell, 10 November, 2011 - 8:21am

spurious duplicate

deleted, sort of

… James C. Trager, 10 November, 2011 - 7:00am

Elasmosoma schwarzi (Ashmead 1895)

Scott Shaw det.
His comment: "Very nice photos! Yes, I am very confident in confirming the identification of this wasp as E. schwarzi (Ashmead 1895). The species is included in my key to Elasmosoma species, published in my 2007 paper [Shaw, S.R. A new species of Elasmosoma Ruthe (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Neoneurinae) from the northwestern United States associated with western thatching ants, Formica obscuripes Forel, and Formica obscuriventris clivea Creighton (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington 109(1):1-8, 2007]. Association with adult ants is diagnostic for the Neoneurinae subfamily (sometime treated as a tribe in the Euphorinae). It can be identified to subfamily by the key in my 1997 chapter, and to species with the key in my 2007 paper. The genera are distinguished by features of wing venation, not visible here, but in this case the species is so distinctive (based on form of the metasomal segments) that it is pretty obvious. The two genera can also be separated by behavior: Neoneurus spends lots of time perching on grass stems and attacks when an ant come near, while Elasmosoma is the hovering "dive-bomber." The ant host species is a new record for E. schwarzi -- it would be nice if someone would collect some more of both the ant and parasitoid so the record could be confirmed and vouchered with museum specimens. Neoneurines are easy to collect with an aspirator, once you find them. The photo is excellent - photos of live braconids in flight are rare - I think that my similar photos in my 1993 paper (Shaw, S.R. Observations on the ovipositional behavior of Neoneurus mantis Shaw, an ant-parasitoid from Wyoming. Journal of Insect Behavior. 6(5): 649-658, 1993) are the first photos ever published of any living braconid wasp while in flight. These are probably the first ever photos of living specimens of this species. I'd be curious to know what kind of camera was used."

Moved from Elasmosoma.

… v belov, 5 October, 2009 - 5:35pm

Very nice to have this ID.

Now that it is "on the radar", there is a good chance that next spring I will see these again and will be able to acquire wasp and ants as vouchers. Where will be a good place to send or deposit these?

I note at http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20p?see=/proceedings/0000/6.Krombein_et_al_1979/1.jpgs/0301.jpg that Formica schaufussi and Polyergus lucidus, a "slave-maker" parasitic ant of the former genus, are the recorded hosts. Actually, this creates more questions than it answers, for several reasons.
1 -- There are at three ant species that have been called F. schaufussi over the years, none of which now properly is called this, as per my recent revision: http://antbase.org/ants/publications/21293/21293.pdf.
2 -- Polyergus lucidus and several close relatives always each live with a particular Formica pallidefulva-group species, but the association of true P. lucidus with F. dolosa (the correct name for F. schaufussi) does not occur, and
3 -- the association of the wasp with the parasitic ant may be merely incidental to the fact that it lives in a mixed colony in which it is outnumbered by the host Formica several fold.

But at least it is relatively certain that F. pallidefulva is a new host, since this is one member of the group that has never been called F. schaufussi.

Thanks for everyone's contribution.

Almost forgot -- The picture was taken in sunlight with a Nikor 105 mm macro lens mounted on a Nikon D-60 DSLR. I know I should have, but I didn't write down the aperture and shutter speed settings. The hovering did allow for some relatively easy "lean in" focusing, better than I did on the individual when it was holding still!

… James C. Trager, 12 October, 2009 - 6:11pm

James, could you pls contact Dr Shaw directly?

it would be a good idea, since both of you apparently have a stake in this mateer --- and, as far as i know, he's not a BG member and will not see your comment unless somebody notifies him (better be you i guess :)

… v belov, 12 October, 2009 - 7:37pm

Good suggestion.

I have communicated with him about all this.

… James C. Trager, 15 October, 2009 - 10:50am

Excellent!

Great to see a name on this.

Thanks for sharing these photos, James. Awesome find.

… George Waldren, 5 October, 2009 - 10:44pm

Moved tentatively

Moved from parasitic Apocrita based on the following pers. comm. from Alex Wild: "Looks like a braconid wasp in the genus Elasmosoma. These are known to attack ants."

… v belov, 5 October, 2009 - 9:52am

[removed as irrelevant]

… v belov, 4 October, 2009 - 5:55pm

great job indeed

i wish i could help with ID... will be waiting for expert input

… v belov, 13 June, 2009 - 8:18pm

A photo of a 3mm long bug while hovering !

Great photo.

… Wisconsin Oecanthinancy, 26 May, 2009 - 7:24pm

Thanks Oecanthinancy!

Can I safely assume you like tree crickets? Me too, have since childhood, when I first tracked males singing on weed stems at about age 11.

… James C. Trager, 3 June, 2009 - 12:57pm

Yes....:D

..although 'like tree crickets' is not really an accurate description. Admittedly I am 'obsessed with tree crickets.'

...check out my website (still in progress)
http://www.oecanthinae.com/

… Wisconsin Oecanthinancy, 3 June, 2009 - 1:22pm

Very interesting

I will be interested to hear what the experts have to say

Thanks for posting it

… Vespula Vulgaris, 26 May, 2009 - 6:59pm

maybe a phorid fly after all?

The antennae sure don't look flyish, but I took this picture a few days ago of a definite phorid flying over another species of ant http://bugguide.net/node/view/292375, and now I'm wondering if this is some sort of thick-horned phorid?

… James C. Trager, 22 June, 2009 - 6:06pm

Hymenoptera

This is definitely a Hymenopteran, you can make out the hind wings. Also, the number of flagellomeres + scape and lack of halteres point to Hymenoptera.

I wish I could get you a more specific ID other than Parasitica.

… George Waldren, 22 June, 2009 - 6:30pm

Thanks George. I was having t

Thanks George. I was having trouble deciding if I was seeing hind wings, and blurs near the metanotum made me think, possibly, were vibrating halteres. But the antennae at least really are telling. I will edit appropriately.

… James C. Trager, 23 June, 2009 - 12:52pm

Congratulations on an important find, James.

...your observational skills definitely paid off.

… Wisconsin Oecanthinancy, 5 October, 2009 - 7:09pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2024 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Printer Friendly Version