Thursday: 13 December 2007
We have a minor, 20% chance of some rain later today, but will probably only get enough clouds to mess up the (remembered!) Geminid Meteor Shower tonight and tomorrow morning. Temperatures will be lower now, only 70 degF. In the end we only broke records on Sunday and Monday, but we came within a degree of doing so on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I’ve seen a few of these flitting about over the leaf litter in the last couple of weeks, but not closely enough to photograph, or really, even, to see exactly what they are.
Ichneumon Wasps, I’m guessing. This one’s ovipositor is longer than her body. If you’re looking for a challenge, learning how to identify the 3000-6000 North American species in the Ichneumonidae ought to occupy you for awhile. It’s probably safe to say that each species specializes in parasitizing a few host species - larvae of beetles, horntails, sawflies, lepidopterans, so you could add that to your list too.
Early in May, I photographed (and Bev identified) an ichneumon with antennae that had the more typical white banding. This one does not. Except for some of the more distinctive species, even Bugguide does not try to get to species level. They classify the submissions according to color combinations, though. This one would be under “black with red abdomen” (and yellow legs, no antenna banding, I’d add). There is a possible match here, though it is unidentified further.
You’ll get a fine view of the diversity of the family by looking through the excellent photographs of mostly unidentified individuals, here at Tom Murray’s Ichneumonidae Photo Gallery.
She was fairly nervous, so I couldn’t really get close enough for good photographs. The thumbnails below variously accentuate other features.
This one had an inch-long body (and then of course, the ovipositor), so she was a fairly large individual. At this point she was grooming herself, so I was able to get a little closer, but then she was half-hidden by an intervenening leaf.
The ovipositor isn’t really meant for stinging, but with its extremely sturdy construction and intent she would probably try to do so if disturbed, and probably could inflict a painful stab. Her ovipositor is evolved from the same structure from which wasps and bees evolved stingers, after all. A species with an ovipositor this long may be interested in examining trees for underlying larvae of horntails. She’ll then drill into the tree itself (did I say sturdy construction?) and lay an egg in the larva. You can guess the rest.
Is she out of her element, here in December, foolishly encouraged by warm temperatures? I’d guess not - we have certainly had cool days, and some quite cold nights, for us. This is probably the right time of year for her.
The last thumbnail was as good as I could get of her face.
I’ve seen a few of these flitting about over the leaf litter in the last couple of weeks, but not closely enough to photograph, or really, even, to see exactly what they are.
Ichneumon Wasps, I’m guessing. This one’s ovipositor is longer than her body. If you’re looking for a challenge, learning how to identify the 3000-6000 North American species in the Ichneumonidae ought to occupy you for awhile. It’s probably safe to say that each species specializes in parasitizing a few host species - larvae of beetles, horntails, sawflies, lepidopterans, so you could add that to your list too.
Early in May, I photographed (and Bev identified) an ichneumon with antennae that had the more typical white banding. This one does not. Except for some of the more distinctive species, even Bugguide does not try to get to species level. They classify the submissions according to color combinations, though. This one would be under “black with red abdomen” (and yellow legs, no antenna banding, I’d add). There is a possible match here, though it is unidentified further.
You’ll get a fine view of the diversity of the family by looking through the excellent photographs of mostly unidentified individuals, here at Tom Murray’s Ichneumonidae Photo Gallery.
She was fairly nervous, so I couldn’t really get close enough for good photographs. The thumbnails below variously accentuate other features.
This one had an inch-long body (and then of course, the ovipositor), so she was a fairly large individual. At this point she was grooming herself, so I was able to get a little closer, but then she was half-hidden by an intervenening leaf.
The ovipositor isn’t really meant for stinging, but with its extremely sturdy construction and intent she would probably try to do so if disturbed, and probably could inflict a painful stab. Her ovipositor is evolved from the same structure from which wasps and bees evolved stingers, after all. A species with an ovipositor this long may be interested in examining trees for underlying larvae of horntails. She’ll then drill into the tree itself (did I say sturdy construction?) and lay an egg in the larva. You can guess the rest.
Is she out of her element, here in December, foolishly encouraged by warm temperatures? I’d guess not - we have certainly had cool days, and some quite cold nights, for us. This is probably the right time of year for her.
The last thumbnail was as good as I could get of her face.
