Diptera.info

Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 25-08-2007 23:34

Hi

* locality - Silgueiros - Viseu - PORTUGAL
* date - 2007.08.25
* size - 7 mm (medium wasp)
* habitat - open land
* substrate - on Mentha sp. flower

This is a male of Bethylidae wasp. Correct?

Edited by jorgemotalmeida on 25-08-2007 23:36

Posted by Andrew Whittington on 15-09-2007 09:05

Yes, it looks like a Bethylid to me .. but isn't it a female. Both males and females can be winged in some species and in the second photo the specimen seems to have a stinger?

Edited by Andrew Whittington on 15-09-2007 09:06

Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 15-09-2007 12:46

yes. it is a stinger.

According to the delta intkey: "Head. Antennal segments (11?)12 (females), or 13 (males). Antennae geniculate"

this drive us to the female wasp... It has clearly LESS THAN 13 segments... so a winged female...

Why nobody has sure about Bethylidae for this wasp? It is clear that this CANNOT BE an ant.

What are the other wasps that are very similar to the Bethylidae wasp?

Posted by Christian Schmid-Egger on 15-09-2007 19:18

I am not sure, weather it is a Bethylidae (12-13 antennal segments) or a Dryniidae (10 antennal segments), because I count 11 segments. It also may be a small Tiphia species. But I am not so familar with these groups to recognize it. In any case it is not an ant, because ants always have a knot-like petiolus.

Regards, Christian

Posted by jorgemotalmeida on 05-11-2007 00:33

Christian Schmid-Egger wrote:
In any case it is not an ant, because ants always have a knot-like petiolus.

Regards, Christian

not always!

there are exceptions. The only thing that we can find in ants is the existence of metapleural gland (there is no *VIRTUALLY* any other animal with that gland) BUT not all ants have it.

Posted by Christian Schmid-Egger on 06-11-2007 19:53

not always!

there are exceptions. The only thing that we can find in ants is the existence of metapleural gland (there is no *VIRTUALLY* any other animal with that gland) BUT not all ants have it.

But these exeptions are really rare??? Even in the world key for Hymenoptera (Goulet & Huber 1993), Formicidae are charaterized as: "Metasoma petiolate, ..segment I usually strongly constricted at each end, forming a true node, but rarely unconstricted posterodorsally (only!!!)", what for me means a half node minimum".

In every case, the above mentioned wasp is never an ant, but a Bethylid or something similar; or an Tiphia (I cannot recognize wing venation).

Regards, Christian