Orchid-dupe Wasp
Female, Wing Venation
Ellura
Orchid-dupe Wasp
Female, Hairy Wings
 
                      
Orchid-dupe Wasp (Lissopimpla excelsa)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Ant Bee Wasps (Hymenoptera)
Family: Ichneumon Wasp (Wasp: Ichneumonoidea: Ichneumonidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Orchid-dupe Wasp (Lissopimpla excelsa)
This Photo:     Male, Wing Venation
Other names: Dusky-winged Ichneumonid or Orchid Dupe Wasp

Thank you Anthony Paul & Tony and Jenny Dominelli 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
Females are ~17mm long (head & body). A very long ovi-positor at ~8mm long, and even longer antennae ~17mm (as long as the body & head). Males are smaller, but variable, at ~11.5 to ~16.5mm, with the antennae about the same length as the body.
The female antennae has a pale stripe in the middle that's missing from the male antennae. Notice the male is more chiselled looking, with more patterns (yellow & black). They have 3 toes.
Thanks to Thomas Mesaglio, from our facebook group, who gave us a really amazing insight into these wasps:
" 'Orchid dupe' refers to the orchid species Cryptostylis leptochila, which looks similar to the males of Lissopimpla excelsa and tricks them into attempting to mate with it (and thus pollinating it)."

Copyright © 2022-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 12-Dec-2022
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.