One of two eupelmids collected together - Brasema leucothysana

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » "Parasitica" - Parasitoid Wasps » Chalcidoid Wasps (Chalcidoidea) » Eupelmidae » Eupelminae » Brasema » Brasema leucothysana

Photo#763944

Copyright © 2013 Mark Fox

One of two eupelmids collected together - Brasema leucothysana -

New Orleans East, near amusement park, Orleans Parish, Louisiana, USA
April 12, 2013
Size: 4.0mm

I hand-collected two small antlike wasps in a vacant lot next to a car dealership, while I was waiting for my wife's car to be tuned up. This one is definitely female, and I think it is Brasema leucothysana (determined using Gibson, 1995).

Given that the two wasps were collected within an hour of each other, about 30m apart, I am presuming that they are male and female of the same species. That would be cool because the males for many species in the genus are unknown (or weren't known in 1995). On the other hand, I still am slightly uncertain whether the other specimen is male at all. In either case, I'll be excited to get some feedback about what these may be.

Here's the other specimen:

Images of this individual: tag all

One of two eupelmids collected together - Brasema leucothysana - female

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Contributed by Mark Fox on 26 April, 2013 - 4:12pm
Last updated 28 April, 2013 - 3:57pm

Moved

Moved from Eupelmidae.

… Bob Carlson, 28 April, 2013 - 3:57pm

Congratulations on the identi

Congratulations on the identification, it is indeed a female of Brasema leucothysana. However, the second specimen you mention is a female of the genus Anastatus. You can tell it is a female because it actually looks like a eupelmid. Any male in the subfamily Eupelminae, the most diverse of the three eupelmid subfamilies, will not look anything like a female nor have any characteristic features of the "family". Look for some comparatively small, non-descript, dark to greenish, pteromalid-like wasp. As far as the Anastatus female is concerned, the infuscate fore wing with anterior and posterior spots behind the venation is one of the characteristic features of females of the genus (some species with complete hyaline cross-band rather than separate spots).

… Gary Gibson, 27 April, 2013 - 8:46am

Thanks!

Thanks for the speedy and thorough explanation! In hindsight, I was silly to presume that temporal, spatial proximity, and "behavioral similarity" (i.e. walking around in the open where I could see them) would mean these individuals were of the same species. In my own research vacuuming insects off the salt marshes near New Orleans, I am constantly faced with the staggering diversity of tiny and closely related parasitic wasps residing in a tiny area. If anything, I suppose their similar behavior should have tipped me off that they were both female. I imagine that males are in search of females, whereas females are in search of hosts (and maybe food).

… Mark Fox, 29 April, 2013 - 11:30am

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