Rhopalosoma nearcticum

Moved

Moved from Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies.

… v belov, 23 September, 2009 - 8:26am

If Rhopalosomatidae then there are only 3 species listed http://www.neartica.com/nomina/wasps/waspo-r.htm#anchor161355
Using this key http://www.doacs.state.fl.us/pi/enpp/ento/entcirc/ent341.pdf It has full wings and I'm not in the southeast, therefore Rhopalosoma nearcticum! Anyone agree?

Also. I have both of the host species listed here http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp01/MQ46189.pdf

… John R. Maxwell, 23 September, 2009 - 6:36am

must be Rhopalosoma nearcticum indeed -- NICE!

see (1) [p. 537, couplet 46(48)]: "each flagellar segment of antennae with a pair of slender apical spines; female with tarsomeres 2 and 3 dilated and lobed."

… v belov, 23 September, 2009 - 8:26am

Confirmed.

My expert friend Doug Yanega of UC Riverside confirmed the identification. Great images of a really nice find.

… Eric R. Eaton, 23 September, 2009 - 12:23pm

Thanks

for asking him!

BTW - If anyone wants to frass any of the extra wing shots let me know.

… John R. Maxwell, 23 September, 2009 - 12:27pm

I can

100% guarantee that this is not a fly. No fly has that wing venation. Also, 4 wings can be seen in one of the photos. I think this might be Rhopalosomatidae.

… Keith Bayless, 23 September, 2009 - 3:18am

Thanks

sorry for that!

… John R. Maxwell, 23 September, 2009 - 6:16am

Moved

Moved from Flies.

… Keith Bayless, 23 September, 2009 - 3:17am

Moved

Moved from Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies.

… John R. Maxwell, 23 September, 2009 - 12:34am

John:

Do you have any more wing closeups?

… Ross Hill, 22 September, 2009 - 5:59pm

Yes

I have a closer version of this one and two others. Another funny thing to note is that this doesn't have MANY antennal(?) segmnents like some of the Ichneumonoidea. It probably has around 10-12 with a little spur sticking out at the base of each joint. Maybe this isn't uncommon, but it is for the ones I have found. Spurs all over this thing and funny feet! Just got home from the gym, will load wing pix ASAP.

… John R. Maxwell, 22 September, 2009 - 7:57pm

Interesting...

This may be a braconid wasp mimic - I have seen quite a few of these lately showing up on BG. Makes me wonder whether the ocelli are just decorative. If there are less than 16 ant. segs., then this would effectively exclude the Ichneumonoidea. Check also too see if there are two or four wings.

… Ross Hill, 22 September, 2009 - 11:48pm

Images

I have added some more. A few were resized down to 560x560 but I don't think I lost much detail in doing so. Does this help?

… John R. Maxwell, 23 September, 2009 - 12:25am

Yes, much...

The Ichneumonoidea can be safely excluded - this is a wasp mimic. I would move this to Diptera for now because it appears there are only two wings here.

… Ross Hill, 23 September, 2009 - 12:31am

Thanks!

… John R. Maxwell, 23 September, 2009 - 12:33am

By the way...

Thanx for helping to move many of my images. I am still waiting on editor status - haven't heard from John in awhile on this one way or the other.

… Ross Hill, 23 September, 2009 - 12:38am

Thanks for taking care of these wasps

They have been forgotten for way too long. Everyone was giving up hope. Now it is getting a lot better.
John is probably just busy with 2.0 or something.

… John R. Maxwell, 23 September, 2009 - 12:41am

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… John R. Maxwell, 22 September, 2009 - 8:32am