Female yellow wasp - Megastigmus

Moved

Moved from Torymidae.

… John R. Maxwell, 15 June, 2011 - 3:12pm

Megastigmus…

Can be safely moved to the genus level for now.

See reference here.

… Ross Hill, 15 June, 2011 - 2:47pm

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… v belov, 21 January, 2010 - 3:54pm

Right!

Indeed you're right with assuming it's a torymid and not a pteromalid. The coxa (hip) of the third pair of legs is enlarged and about 3 times bigger than the coxae of the other legs.
One of the characters of torymids. I overlooked it when I saw the picture. There are also pteromalids that are yellow with a longer ovipositor....
And megastigmus seems to be a good candidate!
Greetings

… Gerard Pennards, 15 January, 2010 - 3:57am

Wasp wings

Have you checked out http://www.drawwing.org/node/1 This site has wing images. I assume that it uses software similar to fingerprint identification or face recognition. Some day you will scan in a wing - poof - up pops the ID. For now wasps wings are best represented, but even they are few in number. I could not find your wasp. Perhaps you could contribute to the data base.

… Virginia Malone, 15 January, 2010 - 8:24am

drawwing

Interesting site! I've bookmarked it. Unfortunately, I don't have the equipment at present to provide scans to their specifications. More stuff on my shopping list!

… SusannahA, 15 January, 2010 - 9:21am

Thanks!

… SusannahA, 15 January, 2010 - 4:13am

Superfamily Chalcidoidea, Family Pteromalidae

Would be my idea!
greetings

… Gerard Pennards, 14 January, 2010 - 2:46pm

Could it be

Megastigmus (Torymidae)?

These are non-parasitic chalcids that develop inside seeds instead of inside other insects. I was reminded of Megastigmus when I saw the thumbnail image, and the association with a bag of birdseed would seem to support that thought... but I know nothing of the technical characters that would separate a torymid from a pteromalid.

(Edit: I just looked at the photos of the male and I see that you were already thinking Megastigmus, Susannah. Well, I'm curious what others have to say about this possibility.)

… Charley Eiseman, 14 January, 2010 - 7:33pm

Megastigmus?

I've separated the seeds; sunflower in one jar, small stuff (regular bird seed) in another. So I'll keep an eye on them as well as the Indian meal moth pupae.

… SusannahA, 14 January, 2010 - 8:46pm