Two-toned Caterpillar Parasite Wasp
Female, Tooth
Ellura
Two-toned Caterpillar Parasite Wasp
Female, Face
 
                      
Two-toned Caterpillar Parasite Wasp (Heteropelma scaposum)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Ant Bee Wasps (Hymenoptera)
Family: Ichneumon Wasp (Wasp: Ichneumonoidea: Ichneumonidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Two-toned Caterpillar Parasite Wasp (Heteropelma scaposum)
This Photo:     🔍Female, Petiole🔎

Thank you Dan B (HeadSoup) for identifying this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
~20mm long.
Thought it was Trichomma sp at first, but the ovi-positor is too short. Then Habronyx sp but the wing venation isn't right.
But Dan saved the day and said "Easiest tell is the 'flat' looking veins Cu1 and 1m-cu running in series. Habronyx, etc have 1m-cu curved and longer than Cu1.
There is also a small 'tooth' at the base of the pronotum in profile, which can just barely be seen between the front femur/tibia. Also the eyes converge in Habronyx/Trichomma ventrally more."

Copyright © 2022-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 19-Dec-2022
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.