cryptine ichneumonid

Compsocryptus fasciipennis

Description:

About 3cm long with orange and black wings ,and a blue/black body.This has quite a prominent ovipositor .

Habitat:

Grasslands and low shrubs.

1 Species ID Suggestions

stho002 10 years ago

cryptine ichneumonid

Compsocryptus fasciipennis http://journals.fcla.edu/flaent/article/view/58559/56238

5 Comments

Paul Davis 10 years ago

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

Paul Davis 10 years ago

Thanks a lot Stephen ,I have been going around in circles with this one.

folicallychalled 10 years ago

Wonderful images and a great find.

I am currently chasing a very similar wasp, but with white patches on the wings instead of the blown. This one is at least 6cm long, but no ID and no photo yet.

I hope someone nails this one, so I get a free ride to my ID :)

Dave

Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

Distinctive wasp. Typo on Pompilidae :-)

John La Salle 10 years ago

Hi Paul
Quite a beautiful creature. I figure it is an Ichneumonidae
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumonid...
Although it looks like a spider wasp, you correctly point out that it has a quite distinctive ovipositor. In the aculeate (stinging) wasps, the ovipositor is replaced with a retractable sting - and never seen as the permanent, exserted structure that you see in this picture.