Sphecid - Physocephala furcillata

Moved

Moved from Physocephala.

I now know/understand more than I did before the crisis of faith that led me to move this from furcillata. The cluster of characters: 1st antennal segment very short; scutellum dark (not at all red); costal cell lighter brown than the marginal cell behind it...not to mention the far north locale make it quite clear this is indeed furcillata after all...even without verifying the uniformly black cheek and pale antennal grooves. Now you can rest, Chris :-)

… Aaron Schusteff, 28 December, 2013 - 2:23am

Life is always a learning experience ...

... and you have spent a lot of time on these fuzzy pics. Thanks again, and all the best for the new year.

… Christopher Adam, 28 December, 2013 - 8:46am

Moved

Moving back to genus from Physocephala furcillata...apologies but I decided that, with my current knowledge and experience, this one's too ambiguous for me to place to species with certainty. See comment below for all the gory details.

… Aaron Schusteff, 26 December, 2013 - 2:35am

Moved

Moved from Physocephala tibialis.

The discal cell here is mostly hyaline, as in P. furcillata and P. marginata (it's dark in P. tibialis). Humeri here are strongly white as in P. marginata (they are typically only slightly dusted white or simply dark in P. furcillata and P. tibialis).

Ranges for these species as given (over 50 years ago) in Camras 1957 are:

P. furcillata: "Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to Pennsylvania, west to Alberta, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. California? Mexico."
P. marginata is given as "New Hampshire to North Carolina, west to Washington and California".
P. tibialis, which is more southerly, namely: "Massachusetts to Florida, west to Wisconsin and Texas."

The New Brunswick locale here fits best with the range given for P. furcillata, although it seems plausible that P. marginata might also reach as far east as Frederickton.

To my eye, the gestalt here, especially the widely white humeri, suggest P. marginata, but the descriptions of that species state it has a red scutellum, as seen in this image from Quebec and this image as well. Also, the relatively short 1st antennal segment suggests P. furcillata

According to the key in Camras (1996), P. furcillata has facial grooves pale (couplet 24') and cheeks uniformly dark (couplet 27); whereas P. marginata has facial grooves dark (couplet 31) and cheeks dark with a pale center (couplet 15'). But neither of those characters are visible here. (If you have a side view showing cheeks, or frontal view showing facial grooves, that could cinch the ID.)

Clearly, this is a difficult post to get to species! But, overall, it seems P. furcillata has the best supported case.

… Aaron Schusteff, 22 December, 2013 - 4:27am

Thanks, Aaron ...

... for your detailed consideration of my poor images. Here is one more image of the critter in question. Also, check the genus page for another individual, which I will post shortly.

… Christopher Adam, 26 December, 2013 - 10:22am

Christopher

See my comment under the additional (3rd) image you posted.

… Aaron Schusteff, 26 December, 2013 - 9:55pm

Moved

Moved from Thick-headed Flies.

… Christopher Adam, 5 November, 2010 - 10:52am

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… Martin Hauser, 16 July, 2010 - 11:02am

You have been deceived.

Look in conopidae. An expert should be able to tell you more.

… Domingo Zungri, 16 July, 2010 - 8:40am

Sneaky little devil ..

… Christopher Adam, 16 July, 2010 - 1:00pm

Conopidae

My best guess would be that this is a male of Physocephala tibialis. It is found out east and is usually very dark like this one.

… Joel Gibson, 5 November, 2010 - 10:34am

New image for New Brunswick

Thanks for checking. I'll move it to the species page for now.

… Christopher Adam, 5 November, 2010 - 10:52am