On a nocturnal visit to Cullaloe this week I spotted what I thought was a spider dangling from a Willow branch. Slipping the rim of the net under it I scooped it - only to find a female ichneumonid wasp in the net. No spider, though there could have been one which has been saved from a sticky end.
Early investigations made me head for Pimplinae and - yippee! - I have a key. It has literally taken me all day on and off to unpack the vagaries of wasp key glossary madness (errr, I mean I was working from home). I ended up at Scambus elegans, and, unbelievably, this seems to be correct. There are 4 records on NBN. If it's univoltine and mature in February that's no wonder, though. What kind of idiot's looking for Ichneumons in February?
This happy idiot :)
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| Spot the yellow stigmata |
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| Shiny posterior to tergites are typically pimpline |
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| Subtle elegans-ness |
Short numbers note: despite spending years looking at Cullaloe and a whole year hammering it for a 1K challenge only two years ago I've seen in the first 7 weeks of 2021: 14 new diptera, 4 new spiders, 23 new beetles, 8 new bugs and a new wasp. This has to be, in part, from ignoring everything that isn't an invertebrate. There must be some sort of lesson there.
Here's some old wasp
It's certainly an impressive start, can't dispute that. Sweet toonage too.
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