What have I got here? - Sclerogibba talpiformis

Sclerogibba talpiformis Benoit

Moved from Sclerogibba. ID'd from specimen. Thanks Diane.

Presence of two spurs on mid-tibiae and short hypostomal bridge make this Sclerogibba. Reddish fore-body, longitudinal furrow on propodeum, lack of a longitudinal furrow on the pronotum, widely separated lateral ocelli, and complete notauli indicate S. talpiformis.

… Brad Barnd, 1 December, 2013 - 5:50pm

Moved

Moved from Probethylus callani.

… Brad Barnd, 24 November, 2013 - 1:27pm

Moved tentatively

Moved from Probethylus.

Massimo Olmi says "I believe that your specimen is a Probethylus callani, mainly because of the brown gaster." But he also says we'd need to see the number of tibial spurs on the mid-leg (one in Probethylus vs two in Sclerogibba) to confirm. The length of the hypostomal bridge is also an important character. I think I only see one spur on the mid-leg, maybe you can check?

… Brad Barnd, 19 November, 2013 - 3:28pm

I can clearly see..

two 2 spurs at the distal end of the mid tibia.

… Diane Young, 24 November, 2013 - 11:12am

Thanks Diane

Then this must be a Sclerogibba species. There are two species recorded in (1) from Texas, S. talpiformis and S. africana, and I'm leaning towards the former. But hard to be sure.

… Brad Barnd, 24 November, 2013 - 1:25pm

I could send it to you

just email me with your address.

… Diane Young, 24 November, 2013 - 2:20pm

John Abbott at St. Edwards Univ.

has the specimen right now. I hope he was able to get a live shot today. He will send the specimen back to me soon and I'll check.

… Diane Young, 19 November, 2013 - 3:43pm

Wow Diane!

A new family on BG!!!! Congrats!

… Betsy Betros, 17 November, 2013 - 2:24pm

And...

All because someone was looking for tiny little psocids that few people look for! Again...congrats Diane!

… Betsy Betros, 17 November, 2013 - 4:48pm

You have to put on your knee pads...

and get on your hands and knees to find creatures like this. Wow! I really heart BugGuide. Everybody really pumped up my ego. I'll keep looking for the rare ones!

… Diane Young, 17 November, 2013 - 5:08pm

which means no more missing aculeate families, too!

congrats all. amazing find.

… v belov, 17 November, 2013 - 2:36pm

Sclerogibbidae: Probethylus sp.

Moved from ID Request. This had me really stumped. A very Bethylid-like body, but the antennae were wrong. So I went back to a key to Hymenoptera families, and quickly realized what it was.

These are pretty rare. The only known species in the U.S. is from Arizona, and this may or may not be that species. They are known to be parasitoids of webspinners.

Congrats on adding a new family to BugGuide!

… Brad Barnd, 17 November, 2013 - 2:01pm

I don't think this is the Arizona species

P. schwarzi is described as having 18 antennal segments. Color is light testaceous with a single dark band on the third abdominal segment and the base of the first abdominal segment being dark. Known from Arizona and Oklahoma (Shetlar 1973).

Yours looks like it has more antennal segments (~25??) and is colored differently. The neotropical P. callani is a closer fit, but its described coloration isn't quite like yours. There is a more recent paper by Massimo Olmi (A revision of the world Sclerogibbidae, 2005) which would probably be more informative, but I do not have a copy.

… Brad Barnd, 17 November, 2013 - 3:44pm

yaaay!

i was waiting for a breakthrough... fascinating beast.

… v belov, 17 November, 2013 - 2:07pm

This first image was posted much earlier,

so it is now on page 5 of ID Request

… john and jane balaban, 17 November, 2013 - 12:27pm

Ah...

They were linked out of order. Silly of me not to have thought of that. Thanks!

… Ken Wolgemuth, 17 November, 2013 - 12:29pm

Changed ...

I put the original back as first image

… Robert Lord Zimlich, 19 November, 2013 - 4:33pm

Ichneumonoidea

It has too many antennae segments for bethylidae. Seems like the fact that it is apterous and has huge front legs should help narrow it down. An en face view would also help so the mouthparts can be seen.

… twiztedminds, 17 November, 2013 - 10:51am

Those eyes seem huge!

We were thinking it would be Bethylidae, but couldn't find a match there.

… john and jane balaban, 17 November, 2013 - 9:09am

Moved to ID Request

Moved from Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies.
Diane,
Indeed a strange creature. Despite lacking elbowed antennae, I suspect may be some tropical or subtropical ant. I moved to ID Request, where it can be seen by more people. Someone will surely recognize, as it's probably not to be confused with anything else.

… Robert Lord Zimlich, 16 November, 2013 - 8:10pm

Is it just me...

...or has this image disappeared from ID Request?

When I view it, it says "Home » ID Request" at the top of the page, but if I look in ID Request, I see only the first two images. I'd be interested in knowing if anyone else is seeing (or rather not seeing) the same thing.

… Ken Wolgemuth, 17 November, 2013 - 12:10pm

Hi Diane...

that is a weird one for sure!

… Betsy Betros, 15 November, 2013 - 10:06pm