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I photographed this in my garden today (southern England), expecting it to be Gasteruption assectator. But now, on closer examination, I think it might be Gasteruption minutum - due to the wide gaps between eye & mandible and the relatively short ovipositor, compared to gaster segment 1. Can anyone else comment? :)

Size: about 12-15mm

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A closeup of the gaster & ovipositor...

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A closeup of the head...

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Really difficult to decide. Normally, ovipositor is shorter again and mesonotum coarser in minutum as in the specimen on the photo. But from lenght of genae, you may be right.... The photo identification is really problematic, because characters like this cannot be recognzied in a sure way by photos, and also Gasteruption is difficult by dryed specimens too.

Regards, Christian

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Thanks for the help ... I will try to catch one and key it through :)

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Gasteruption assectator or tibiale, + assectator;)

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Thanks :) Looks like I will have to catch one to be sure. Evanoids are my favourite parasitica and I have quite a large number of specimens but all are either assectator or jaculator here in the UK, so I have stopped catching every one that I see.

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G. tibiale = G. undulatum (Abeille) now. I my opinion, this species is really improbable because of its really coarse mesonotum, which is much more finely sculpured in assectator and in the photo.

Regards, Christian

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Key d'Oehlke!

Praescutum fein chagriniert bis grob runzlig!
occipitalleiste seitlich kielartig verbreitert
hinterschienen kurz keulenfr?mig....
Bohrerklappen, O,35-0,' vorderfl?gell?nge.....assectator


Praescutum grob grubig bis netzartig (not here)
occipitallleiste gleichm?ssiger (not here)
hinterschienen lang keulenf?rmig (not here)
0,5(not here)......tibiale

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??? Hi cthrion,
what do you mean excactly? I know the key of Oehlke, I also now the genus, and above I said that undulation (tibiale, as used in Oehkle, is a synonym) is very unlikely. Also I said, that minutum may be possible, but is also unlikely. My conclusion was, that the species on the photo most probable is an assectator. But I also said that a real species recogniton in Gasteruption by photo is difficult to impossible.

And - in my opinion - the characters you cited from the Oehkle key cannot be recognized by this photo or are not suited for a real species recognition except the structrue of the praescutum. That's my expericence of about 15 years of identifing Central European Gasteruptiidae.

Regards, Christian

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At tibiale that I have (d?t Madl, Oehlke, Pagliano), the drill is longer, the more decorated praescutum, the narrow part of the tibia longer...

At WALL, 1994 bidentulus THMS=undulatum AB
tibiale Schlet = hastator F
Difficult to be affirmative in photograph me also after 15 years!
If one passes the specimens to somebody of other sometimes three different names??????