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Project Noah Nature School
Hoplisoides sp.
About 10 millimeters in body length, colored as shown. Note dark band along leading edge of wing.
This wasp was licking honeydew off a scale insect or gall on a Gambel's oak tree in a riparian corridor. Surrounding habitat is mixed coniferous forest with some understory shrubs.
Dr. Matthias Buck, Royal Alberta Museum, suspects this is Hoplisoides pygidialis, which largely replaces H. costalis in the western U.S. Understandably, he is not willing to say for certain from these images alone.
Spotted on Jul 13, 2012
Submitted on Jan 13, 2014
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