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Photo#84642
Small Metallic Green Wasp - Auplopus

Small Metallic Green Wasp - Auplopus
Doddridge County, West Virginia, USA
October 8, 2006
Pompilid?

Images of this individual: tag all
Small Metallic Green Wasp - Auplopus Small Metallic Green Wasp - Auplopus

Leave in Auplopus
There will probably never be a page A. architectus, unless the three species are lumped...they are just too difficult to ID, even in pinned specimens. Color is probably the single worst character to go by, as it is obviously highly variable between species and is also extremely variable within a species. Overall hairiness is sometimes useful in distinguishing A. architectus from A. nigrellus and A. caerulescens, but not in distinguishing nigrellus and caerulescens from each other. Also keep in mind that there are also metallic blue species of Ageniella (subgenus Ageniella, such as A. cupida in the northeast), which means metallic blue doesn't always mean Auplopus (but it's probably a really good bet...with a little caution). Ironically, males of this complex are rather simple to ID, if a frontal view of the face is available.

Auplopus.
Moving to Auplopus genus page for now. The genus is in bad need of revision, and one cannot always go by color alone.

Pompilid indeed
something in the genus Auplopus from the looks of it... however, i do not, at the moment, have a key for said genus. i was about to post an Auplopus picture, but you seem to have beaten me to the punch. perhaps Auplopus architectus... that is what i think i am going to add.

 
Thanks Edward
There isn't a page for Auplopus architectus, is there? I have no references to check other than what is in the guide. FWIW, I was going to add Auplopus as a guess. I'll leave it here, perhaps Nick will be able to confirm.

 
A. architectus
you are right, there is not a page for A. architectus. Nick or Eric will, without a doubt be able to tell you more on this one... you can have a look at mine and see if they look alike, but that may be the best i can do for now.

 
I did
Look at your great series. Yours appears a little more blue to my eyes, but other than that it's really difficult for me to tell. It was only because of the other (black and much larger) pompilid I posted that I even realized this could be a spider wasp! I'm very s-l-o-w-l-y learning. :)

 
wasp
i think that Auplopus architectus is a pretty variable species, but they all tend to be quite hairy...

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