Wasp With Extra Long Abdomen

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:05 pm

Back to the summer pictures. Spotted this Gal on the ground in early August. It was raining and she was having a hard time flying. Overall length had to be a good three inches. Pelecinus polyturator (per Tony T`s ID). Taken with my Canon PowerShot S1 IS with the 250D closeup lens. More life history here...
http://www.answers.com/topic/pelecinus- ... technology

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:10 pm

I'll be interested to hear Tony's take on this one. It does look like an ichneumon, but I'm fascinated that all of that really long "abdomen" really does seem to be abdomen, not ovipositor. Is there a version of this thing with an ovipositor added on, or is this as long as things get?

--Rik

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:18 pm

Rik. I did not see any sign of a ovipositor at all. You would have to assume it sticks that abdomen into something! Maybe larger diameter bored holes? maybe a male?

Tony T · Post by **Tony T** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:27 pm

Pelecinid Wasp, Pelecinus polyturator a parasitoid of June Beetle larvae. This is a female, not sure if anyone has ever seen a male. I've seen plenty of females.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 2:56 pm

Don't know diddly about these but maybe that long abdomen is for mating purposes, kind of like dragon flies and such. Ya think...?

Planapo · Post by **Planapo** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:01 pm

Gosh, now that´s what one can call a really long metasoma!
Interesting find, Doug!

Never seen such a wasp before, and thanks to Tony´s ID was able to look it up, and the lit. at hand tells me: 3 species of Pelecinidae, in America only. And further: in the north of their range (Canada) males very rare, geographically restricted parthenogenesis assumed.

Ken, most probably the long metasoma has the function to reach the beetle larvae in the ground to oviposit on them.

--Betty

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:04 pm

Betty commented:

...males very rare, geographically restricted parthenogenesis assumed.

Well there goes that inflight love theory.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:06 pm

Thank you very much for the ID Tony

. I updated my post to reflect the new data. Lets hope that never happens to humans (turn parthenogenic) They won`t need us anymore Ken

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 3:42 pm

Doug commented:

Lets hope that never happens to humans (turn parthenogenic) They won`t need us anymore Ken

This may be of some interest then.

Pregnant Man