Gasteruptiid Wasps are a small groups of parasitoid Wasps targeting
Solitary Bees (and possibly Solitary Wasps); the egg is laid in a Bee’s nest
which has been provisioned with pollen for the developing larvae; the young
Wasp then emerges and consumes the Bee’s egg or larval Bee and the food store
provided for it, before pupating and emerging as an adult Wasp. Gasteruptiids
are cosmopolitan in distribution, but at their most diverse in Australia, and
to a lesser extent South America.
In a paper published in the journal Zootaxa on 7 October 2014, JohnJennings and Ben Parslow of the AustralianCentre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity and School of Earth andEnvironmental Sciences at The University of Adelaide describe a new species of Gasteruptiid
Wasp from South Australia.
The new species of Wasp is placed in the genus Gasteruption and given the specific name youngi, in honour of Andy Young, who collected some of the
specimens from which the species is described on Kangaroo Island in February
2010. The species is described from four female specimens, one collected from Wirrabara
Forest near Sweeping and three from Melaleuca Cottage on Kangaroo Island. The
Kangaroo Island specimens were hovering over open ground, close to a female Bee
of the species Euryglossula microdonta,
which is widespread in South Australia and which is thought likely to be the
host species for the larvae of Gasteruption youngi.
Gasteruption youngi, female specimen in (1) lateral view, and (2) dorsal view. Jennings
& Parslow (2014).
Gasteruption youngi is 4.75-6.20 mm in length, excluding the ovipositor (egg laying
organ). It is black and brown in colour, with an elongate shape, with
distinctive ovipositor sheaths not known from any other species of Gasteruption.
See also…
Ironwood Trees of the genus Casuarinaare native to Australia, Southeast Asia, South America and the islands of the
western Pacific. They are widely grown for their timber, as well as for
windbreaks and for their ability to stabilize soils in erosion-prone areas...
Sapygid Wasps are a widespread in northern Eurasia and North
America, but considered rare elsewhere and are unknown in Australia, although
the group are not well studied, and their distribution may be wider than...
The Betylobraconinae are a group of Braconid Wasps (small parasitoid Wasps that lack stings and which will lay more than one egg on a host Insect) found in Australia, New Guinea and New Caledonia. They are...
The Betylobraconinae are a group of Braconid Wasps (small parasitoid Wasps that lack stings and which will lay more than one egg on a host Insect) found in Australia, New Guinea and New Caledonia. They are...
Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.
