Black Flower Wasp
Female, Wing Venation
Adelaide Hills
Black Flower Wasp
Female, Legs
 
                      
Black Flower Wasp (Anthobosca sp)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Ant Bee Wasps (Hymenoptera)
Family: Flower Wasp (Wasp: Thynnidae: Anthoboscinae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Black Flower Wasp (Anthobosca sp)
This Photo:     Female, Antennae Shields

Thank you Dr Graham Brown for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found in the Adelaide Hills and possibly elsewhere
~13mm long male. We were confused with the gender of this one. It has an ovi-positor AND wings. We thought female flower wasps don't have wings. However, Graham indicated that only sub-families Thynninae & Diamminae have wingless females. As such, we have added sub-family names within Thynnidae here to highlight the difference.
The legs look like they are made for digging.
There are interesting "shields" in front of the antennae on the face that we've never seen before. Do they protect them when digging?

Copyright © 2019-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 23-Feb-2019
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.