Another chalcidoid wasp

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 2:36 pm

Thanks Betty for the taxonomic correction!

Here's a different chalcidoid wasp I found after losing the other one... This lady is much hairier than the previous specimen, which I think was a male (unless, can females of these wasps withdraw their ovipositors?)

Nikon 10x CF plan objective at full bellows extension. 62 image stack composed of best bits of PMAX and DMAP output from ZS.

Planapo · Post by **Planapo** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:45 pm

unless, can females of these wasps withdraw their ovipositors?

Laurie, I recall having seen chalcidoid females with no ovipositor visible when not ovipositing.
(I've seen some good stills and video footage during plant pathology class. Some chalcidoid wasps are important antagonists against pest insects such as aphids and whiteflies (Aleyrodoidea), and thus some are bred commercially for biological control.
BTW, amongst chalcidoids are the smallest insects with an amazing body length of just about 0.2 mm !

In German some chalcidoid wasps are called 'Erzwespen' which would translate as 'ore wasps'. I think the naming derives from the colourful shine reminding of metal ores, that is so nicely visible in your photo here. Did you notice it on this insect with unaided eye/without magnification as well ?

--Betty

edit misspelling

Dalantech · Post by **Dalantech** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 12:13 am

Laurie this is an incredible stack! Much better than the images that you were posting over at Fred's! The specular highlights are very well controlled and you've got a lot of texture detail in this image because of it. Any recent changes to your lighting?

lauriek · Post by **lauriek** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:46 am

Thanks Betty!

I love the name ore-wasps, being a bit of a rock hound I can see how appropriate that is...

To be honest I didn't notice the colouration of this or the previous specimen until they were magnified, they're just too small (for my eyes anyway!). I could tell they were wasps and not flies due to the way they moved more than anything else. They just look like tiny black fly things to the untrained eye!

0.2mm, wow, I don't think I have the eyesight to catch one of those, although I'll keep my eyes open as that would be an interesting challenge to shoot!

John,

Thanks for the kind words!

I'm still using the same lights (Oly STF-22 twinflash) though I'm always experimenting with diffuser material, shape and position... I moved from a horizontal to a vertical shooting rig a couple of months ago and I'm only just now really getting to grips with diffusing the light in this setup...

Dalantech · Post by **Dalantech** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:30 am

Seems to me that you're doing extremely well! It always amazes me at how much the detail in an image can change due to the quality of the light...