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Chalcid wasp

Antrocephalus sp.

Description:

About 15mm overall. Some white bands or markings near a pointy abdomen and large dark orange, slightly translucent? femurs. Evenly segmented antennae (maybe a pale patch mid-way?); some markings in wings; all black thorax and head. I first thought this a bee due to the huge femurs.

Habitat:

On eucalyptus bark in open sports parkland.

Notes:

http://bie.ala.org.au/species/Haltichell...
(Antrocephalus sp. Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera; Superfamily: Chalcidoidea; Family: Chalcididae; Subfamily: Haltichellinae)
Check Kristi's spotting here http://www.flickr.com/photos/zosterops/1...

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15 Comments

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

'Overall' includes antennae, wings, legs. Is that ok considering?

LaurenZarate
LaurenZarate 10 years ago

15 mm is big for a Chalcid!

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

Thanks Martin. Certainly common structures there. I don't go for the yellow bits much though. :)

MartinL
MartinL 10 years ago

Check this sighting for a comparison
http://www.bowerbird.org.au/observations...

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

Thanks Decha. I'm puzzled with species for this. It looks like a South African one. Often photos become more interesting later.

TicThapanya
TicThapanya 10 years ago

nice shot, beautiful Chalcid

John La Salle
John La Salle 10 years ago

Chalcids are "jumpers" which tend to easily spook. Given their small size I think you did remarkably well with that photo.

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

Thanks again John. I'm regretting my clumsy photo-shoot now; I scared it off after 1.

John La Salle
John La Salle 10 years ago

Actually I do suspect that it is an Antrocephalus sp - just can't be sure without seeing the face and a couple of other characters.
Antrocephalus species have a strong, more or less horseshoe shaped carina (keel) running around the face - you can get an impression that this carina is present when you look at your picture.
I just don't like to make random suggestions based on characters I can't really see.

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

what do you think ? Antrocephalus sp.

lori.tas
lori.tas 10 years ago

Thanks John. I thought it might be a wasp, but the thorax was really throwing me off.

John La Salle
John La Salle 10 years ago

At the moment ALA can't really take sightings that aren't identified as species.
Give us time!

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 10 years ago

Thanks so much John. I was just thinking about putting this one into ALA :-)

John La Salle
John La Salle 10 years ago

Very nice - this is a parasitic wasp - Superfamily Chalcidoidea, Family Chalcididae, subfamily Haltichellinae.
The Chalcididae are generally recognisable by their enlarged hind femur (although this character occurs sporadically in a variety of other chalcids).
Good shot - always happy to see more chalcids on Project Noah!

Mark Ridgway
Spotted by
Mark Ridgway

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Spotted on May 11, 2013
Submitted on May 15, 2013

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