Huge Ichneumonid Wasp with Very Long Ovipositor
e6filmuser
Registered Users Posts: 3,379 Major grins
I thought this was a Gasterupteron jaculator in wasp family Gasteruptiidae, which is adjacent to Ichneumonidae. They are parasitoids of stem-nesting bees.
However, it lacks the distinct white band near the tip of the ovipositior. This one departed from the norm for that species by alighting briefly on the exposed, sunlight Pussy Willow trunk, rather than in shade. The shape and colouring of the abdomen is also different from that of G. jaculator.
This is an ichneumonid wasp. It may be Rhyssella approximator syn. S. bellator, and S. curvipes, which is a parasitoid of Wood Wasps. Unusually, I shot these images by daylight exposure, rarely indeed for a stereo pair. This is one of the largest British ichneumonids.
EM-1, Kiron 105mm, Aperture Priority, 1/125 ISO 800, hand-held.
The stereo is crosseye.
Harold
However, it lacks the distinct white band near the tip of the ovipositior. This one departed from the norm for that species by alighting briefly on the exposed, sunlight Pussy Willow trunk, rather than in shade. The shape and colouring of the abdomen is also different from that of G. jaculator.
This is an ichneumonid wasp. It may be Rhyssella approximator syn. S. bellator, and S. curvipes, which is a parasitoid of Wood Wasps. Unusually, I shot these images by daylight exposure, rarely indeed for a stereo pair. This is one of the largest British ichneumonids.
EM-1, Kiron 105mm, Aperture Priority, 1/125 ISO 800, hand-held.
The stereo is crosseye.
Harold
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