Diptera.info :: Identification queries :: Other insects, spiders, etc.
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 Tiny Wasp
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| Stephen |
Posted on 11-10-2006 21:53
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 Member Location: West Virginia USA Posts: 1322 Joined: 12.04.05 |
I had a brief discussion with myself, wasp or fly, but decided it was a wasp with those long antennae, and the shape of the abdomen looks like a wasp's, and there may be a wasp-like ovipositor visible, at least I think it is an ovipositor and not a plant part. Any ideas about family? If I can dig up my old Kodachrome maybe I could coax some more detail out of it. It is pretty grainy, I know, being greatly enlarged from the original. Thanks in advance for any guidance. Stephen attached the following image:  [68.79Kb] --Stephen Stephen Cresswell www.americaninsects.net |
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| Paul Beuk |
Posted on 11-10-2006 23:14
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 Super Administrator Location: Netherlands Posts: 19363 Joined: 11.05.04 |
It is a gall wasp (Cynipoidea) and might well be a parasitoid on a true gall-causing gall wasp as it appears to be ovipositing in an existing gall.
Paul - - - - Paul Beuk on https://diptera.info |
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| Stephen |
Posted on 11-10-2006 23:25
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Member Location: West Virginia USA Posts: 1322 Joined: 12.04.05 |
So maybe the wasp is twisting its abdomen down into the gall? I had been thinking the ovipositor was the black thing coming out of the rear of the wasp, but maybe it makes more sense that the wasp is twisting its abdomen downward, since otherwise the abdomen has a very strange shape. Thanks for the ID, Paul! Edited by Stephen on 11-10-2006 23:26 --Stephen Stephen Cresswell www.americaninsects.net |
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| ChrisR |
Posted on 11-10-2006 23:52
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 Administrator Location: Reading, England Posts: 7699 Joined: 12.07.04 |
The black bits sticking out of the back of the abdomen are probably the the sheaths that protect the real ovipositor. This is probably an inquiline - a species that lives in (and eats) another cynipid's gall. These wasps have very complex relationships with their hosts - most do not actually cause the death of the host but this is possible by merit of the fact they might eat the food or damage the gall before the host has finished with it.  |
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