Diptera.info

Posted by LordV on 24-08-2006 10:19

Taken 23/08/06 on a raspberry leaf in a shady area of my garden South Coast UK, About 7mm long.
Very long mouth feelers.
Any ideas ?

Thanks Brian V.

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Posted by Jan Willem on 24-08-2006 10:49

It looks like Braconidae to me. I can't see the mandibles very good, but it could be a member of the subfamily Alysiinae.

Jan Willem

Posted by LordV on 24-08-2006 11:02

Thanks for the help. Just to show my complete ignorance of naming and bug families, this means the following ID is correct so far ?
Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea: Braconidae: Alysiinae

So is it an Ichneumon wasp ? or does it have to be in the Ichneumonidae to have that generic title- ie this would normally be referred to as Braconid wasp rather than an Ichneumon wasp ?

Thanks Brian V.

Edited by LordV on 24-08-2006 11:17

Posted by diphascon on 24-08-2006 20:54

LordV wrote:
this would normally be referred to as Braconid wasp rather than an Ichneumon wasp ?

Thanks Brian V.

So it is.

cheers - martin

Posted by Jan Willem on 25-08-2006 13:18

I asked Kees van Achterberg if he agreed with me about the specimen being a member of the subfamily Alysiinae. Well he did agree with me and wrote the following:

It's a species of the genus Asobara s.l. (so including Aphaereta). It's a male. Difficult to identify!

So: Hymenoptera: Ichneumonoidea: Braconidae: Alysiinae: Asobara (s.l.) spec.

Aphaereta used to be treated as a separate genus but is currently regarded as a subgenus of the genus Asobara.

For as far as I know Asobara species are known as important parasitoids of Drosophilidae (I didn't get this information from Kees).

Jan Willem