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Photo#342717
Wasp

Wasp
Elkton, Douglas County, Oregon, USA
July 2, 2009
Checking out a bee box. Cuckoo wasp?

Moved
Moved from ID Request.

Three images
Are your three images of Chrysidids the same specimen? If so, they should be linked.

 
Images
No, they are not the same specimen. For several days, I had many of these visitors (other parasitic wasps, as well) to each of my bee boxes and all over the blackberries (I assumed they were attempting to parasitize inhabitants of last year's hollowed-out blackberry runners); I also leave small piles of branches in the area, which many insects also bore into and call home. I posted these three specimens because they each had different patterns of coloration, and I thought they might therefore be different species. If you feel they are redundant or do not help BG, please feel free to frass any or all of them.

 
Nice images
I wish I had a chance to take pictures of not one but three of these parasitic wasps. Well, actually, I wouldn't want them near my bee houses; so, I have mixed feelings. I will watch for them next year.

 
Droves . . . well, almost.
Actually, this year I was waiting for these little fellows. In mid June, they started showing up on my little branch woodpiles. By the end of June, most of my bee chambers (about 95%) were full; the rest were occupied by earwigs waiting to ambush visitors, and within a few days, these wasps starting showing up in respectable numbers. (I also had a respectable showing of Chalcid Wasps - Leucospis, as well as some minor parasites on the boxes and lots of Ichneumons on the hollowed-out blackberry runners.) All told, through the month of July into August, I lost track of how many Chrysidids came visiting - and I'm sure many came visiting when I wasn't around to tally them. I did, however, manage images of about 2 dozen specimens all told, and they all seemed to come in one of the three color variations I posted here - that's why I was wondering if different coloring might mean different species.

Cuckoo wasp [more specif., Chrysidini, i suppose]
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