Paratiphia robusta

Moved

… Hartmut Wisch, 8 January, 2007 - 8:44pm

Something of a mystery

That both insects are male and female of a same species seems granted. The problem is, they don't seem to match very well with Scoliids, either Scoliinae or Campsomerinae: forewing venation goes way too close to margins of wings, which lack the typical Scoliid wrinkles. I'd rather bet for Tiphiid wasps: the relatively short, somewhat saw-like and thin antennae of this male remind strongly of Tiphia, and contrasts with long and robust antennae of Scoliid males.
On the other hand the venation of the female is complete, with does not match wiht Tiphia females whose marginal cell is genrerally "open".

… Richard Vernier, 28 October, 2006 - 8:52am

Thank you, Richard,

I see what you mean about the antennae, even the general 'gestalt' seems more Tiphia-like. I couldn't tell the gender on the other images. What characters do you see that makes it a female? Meanwhile, I'll reexamine the rest of my photos, but leave this in ID Request.

… Hartmut Wisch, 28 October, 2006 - 10:57am

Oops!

Now that you ask me, I realize the other one could well be a male too. Of course, this would explain why venation doesn't match!Indeed,there seems to be seven urotergites on the gaster.
All that can be said conclusively is that it is considerably older than the second one, most of the hair being worn out. At any rate, with 16 mm long males, one can expect females are really big Tiphiids.

… Richard Vernier, 28 October, 2006 - 2:16pm

Thanks again, Richard,

I thought that I had a male there, whatever else it might be, but I just couldn't read the characters well enough. Your experience helps, and it helps being a skeptic (going to hear a presentation by Richard Dawkins at Caltech today).

From your comments I gather that there's some sexual dimorphism in this family. I also begin seeing the superficial similarities between Scoliidae and Tiphiidae.

… Hartmut Wisch, 28 October, 2006 - 3:02pm