Panda Sand Wasp
S5, ventral
White-jawed Weevil Wasp
S3, Male, dorsal
| Panda Sand Wasp S5, ventral | | White-jawed Weevil Wasp S3, Male, dorsal | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | Ant Bee Wasps (Hymenoptera) | ||||
| Family: | Square-headed Wasp (Wasp: Crabronidae) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | White-jawed Weevil Wasp (Cerceris antipodes) | ||||
| This Photo: | 🔍S2, Female, dorsal🔎 | ||||
Thank you Kerri-Lee Harris for identifying, Brian Dagley for confirming and Milo van Loon for helping with the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere ~10mm long female. ~8mm long male. Notice the extra abdominal segment of the male here compared with the female. Males have 7 abdominal segments, females have 6 (the petiole is included in this segment count). S1 was the 1st Cerceris we photographed, in her nest in the ground. We thought this was a Masked Bee (Hylaeus sp). We discovered the error when we caught & id'ed our 2nd specimen. Kerri said "This widespread species is highly variable in terms of colour, but the populations from southern Australia are often dark (as is this female). The shape of the mesopleuron, clypeus, petiole, propodeal enclosure all seem a match for C. antipodes." Originally Kerri thought the male was Cerceris armigera, but on reviewing later decided it was most likely Cerceris antipodes. Kerri is a highly respected friend of ours over at the "Life in a Southern Forest" web site, where she set up this amazing "worksheet" to help people identify their Cerceris wasps: Cerceris Identification | |||||
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