Thread subject: Diptera.info :: Colourful wasp

Posted by ChrisR on 25-06-2006 09:50
#2

Looks like a parasitic wasp - superfamily Chalcidoidea, family most likely to be Pteromalidae... any more would require John Noyes at the BM(NH), London because Pteromalidae seems to be the 'dumping' family ... anything that doesn't fit another family goes into Pteromalidae! ;)

If you are interested in keying them out you first need to confirm the family and I think that is still best done with "The Hymenoptera" by Ian Gauld and Barry Bolton. This is a really useful book that covers the whole order with keys to family at least.

If you are happy it is a pteromalid then you need "Illustrated key to West-Palearctic Genera of Pteromalidae" by Zdenek Boucek and Jean Yves Rasplus. This is a nice book but the illustrations are not as beautiful as your photos - they are purely line-drawings and SEM photos of body parts to aid the keying process. ;)

Lovely photos by the way. Do you collect these insects and then photograph them in a small 'studio' at home? And what lens/flash equipment are you using? :D