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this photo was not taken by myself.

I just know that was taken in Portugal... in a pool... not sure about identity of photographer - I just know that he is Portuguese.


wasp.. which family? And why?

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Maybe a wood wasp (Xiphydria)?

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Typhiidae

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I've seen really large mud wasps - the size of hornets - land on the surface of billabongs in the outback of Australia, clearly to sip water. I don't know if they were then making mud by combining it with soil, or whether they needed the water for their own rehydration. This wasp appears to be standing on the water surface, rather than having drowned, so maybe it is engaged in a similar way.

Mind you, I know from having a pool in Australia, one is always fishing drowned inverts out. This can sometimes be a nasty surprise, when the spider you have just fished out not to be drowned, just a bit waterlogged - it's one of those things Australian children get taught not to do, as the beast can revive and bite you.

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seems to have a 'wasp-waist' so i dont think it is a sawfly. my guess is Sapygidae or something near but not one i have seen myself

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So Sapygidae family or Xiphydriidae family. I'm inclined for the last option. It seems like a Xiphydria sp.! What do you think?

Thanks for advance!

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Tiphiidae ???Myzininae ovipositor curved!
not Xyphidria, because abdominal segments contracted!

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hmm... but Xiphydriidae wasp, right? SO, which genus if not Xyphidria.. any clue? Thank you!

your french link seems great... but my French is not good, I will use translate of google... or dictionary.com/translation.

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see pic.

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Here... in this image is very clear the segments contracted, but in the photo above is not clear...
Any more suggestions?

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Tiphiidae always !

?subfamily??????Myzininae, it seems to me that the ovipositor is curved upwards on the photograph if not perhaps another subfamily ??

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I agree.. the ovipositor is really curved upwards!


Thank you.