#evanioidea

[addicted2wasps]

41 out of 48. Done! Evania appendigaster. Cockroach egg parasitoid!

[drhoz]

#2040 - Fam. Aulacidae

Photo by Patrick Wake

It appears that the last time anybody looked at the Aulacid diversity in Western Australia (back in 2004), there were 6 species, and all of them were new to science. And that was the first taxonomic study of Australian Aulacids in 50 years.

It's not a particuarly big family - a 2001 paper catalogued 48 species of Aulacus, and 106 species of Pristaulacus (both genera widely spread, worldwide), and two species of Panaulix is confined to sub-Saharan Africa. They parasitise wood-bring beetles in the Cerambycid and Buprestid families, and woodboring wasps in the Xiphydriidae, but all the ones from Australia that we know anything about target the beetles.

[rattyexplores]

✥ Stilbum cyanurum, “Large Cuckoo Wasp” - Chrysididae

From Brisbane insects - “Most species are external parasites of other wasp larvae. Females lay eggs in nest of other wasps (Eumeninae of Vespidae and  Sphecidae) while the nest host collect food for larvae. Cuckoo Wasp larvae hatch and feed on the food or the host larvae.”

30/08/20 - El Arish, QLD

[addicted2wasps]

Weird Wasp....Tuesday?

I was getting kind of down in the dumps about not having any ideas for comics for a while, but I just had to find an excuse to draw an Evaniid today. The other two came into the picture afterward. Sometimes, it can be quite a challenge to come up with an idea or scenario that incorporates some kind of joke or pun related to certain insects, especially wasps.

I'm glad this one worked out. I suppose it would have made more sense to draw an ootheca in the picture, although I am curious about wether the ootheca "appears" externally after mating? I've seen photos of female Periplaneta americana without oothecae, either that, or I'm blind, lol. I welcome any advice or corrections!

The original accompanied caption:

When cockroaches are on the menu... Ampulex compressa and Evania appendigaster are both cockroach parasitoids. A. compressa is known for "zombifying" cockroaches, by stinging them in the brain and then dragging them into the wasp's burrow by the antennae. An egg is then laid on the host. E. appendigaster, aka Ensign wasps, parasitizes roach oothecae by laying eggs into the cockroach egg cases. They also distinctively have vivid blue eyes.

This will be an interesting match! Who will win!? 🤔 😆

(Also, if rock-paper-scissors doesn't require hyphens, I can easily remove them).

[addicted2wasps]

Cartoon of the day. This random concept goes way back to 2014. A character I had created, which is an imaginary Gasteruption pilot. I still need to give her a name. Perhaps Daucus, which is the genus for wild carrot. They're called carrot wasps because they have an affinity for flowers in the Apiaceae, which is the family wild carrot is in. I don't really remember or know why I chose a Gasteruptiid for that role, but thinking back on the idea gives me some nostalgia to my early wasp character design days. I decided to redraw her for old time's sake.

[dendroica]

Pristaulacus fasciatus (by Dendroica cerulea)

A parasite of the larvae of wood-boring beetles.