Two-coloured Orange Spider Wasp
S3, Male, Black Forehead Stripe
Two-coloured Orange Spider Wasp
S1, Female, Wing Venation
| Two-coloured Orange Spider Wasp S3, Male, Black Forehead Stripe | | Two-coloured Orange Spider Wasp S1, Female, Wing Venation | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | Ant Bee Wasps (Hymenoptera) | ||||
| Family: | Spider Wasp (Wasp: Pompilidae) iNaturalist Observation | ||||
| Species: | Two-coloured Orange Spider Wasp (Cryptocheilus bicolor) | ||||
| This Photo: | 🔍S4, Male, Black Forehead Stripe🔎 | ||||
Thank you Sam Gordon for confirming the id of this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Adelaide Hills and elsewhere Males were ~18 to ~21mm long, Females ~30mm long, ~50mm wingspan. The genders can be separated by the number of antenna flagellomeres. Males have 11 flagellomeres & Females have 10. As such, we can also suggest males are significantly smaller than females. We've also noticed the 2 males had a thick black band across the top of the head; unlike the 2 females. There are few trusted images of Cryptocheilus sp. Assuming the bands on the abdomen are one of the diagnostic traits of this genera, C bicolor has quite a thick black abdomen band; and is fairly hairy. Cryptocheilus sp wing tips seem to often have black edges, which are missing here. Possibly due to the wings being so worn. S4, male, didn't have any damage to it's black wing tips & was the smallest of all 4. Photographed 4 specimens in January. | |||||
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