Wasps?

[Ukwildlifeo]

First thanks to laurence for his help.

Ive had some trouble with getting some IDs some wasp species Iv seen:






And this one i believe may be Amblyteles armatorius but I am unsure

[eucera]

The first 2 pics are sawflies (Hymenoptera: Symphyta)

Pic 3 is an inchneumonid. I know very little about these, but I have a suspicion that in many cases, identification to species level is very difficult without critical examination of specimens.

[gez]

yes i think 3rd pic is amblyteles armatorius one of the ichneumons family. gez

[Ukwildlifeo]

Cheers guys. Anyone have species or genera for the other 2?

[Laurence Clemons]

The orange and black sawfly is the Turnip Sawfly Athalia rosae. The black sawfly is a species of Dolerus, of which there are several similar species.

[Ukwildlifeo]

thanhks

[Laurence Clemons]

One of the problems with the Ichneumonidae and many other Hymenoptera is that they are highly variable intra-specifically as well as showing convergent evolution in terms of gross morphology. There are several species of Amblyteles, each with black and yellow bands on the abdomen. Furthermore such coloration is present in some Ichneumon species. Specific identification of the family frequently involves calculating ratios based on careful measurements of the lengths of wing veins, ovipositors, leg segments etc. I would no more use a popular field guide to identify an ichneumonid than I would to identify a cuckoo bee.

[MR H]

I have a bee's nest in my back garden.

However, some small wasps, not like the common ones have been 'hanging around' and trying to get in.

Does anyone know what these would be, they are non-aggressive wasps.

Thanks

Martin

[eucera]

Mr H

You are probably looking at cuckoo bees in the genus Nomada. Absolutely impossible to be sure though without a picture. Even then, id to species level will be somewhere between "tricky" and "impossible".

Cheers, Stuart

[MR H]

Their wings are a reddish colour if this helps.

But the bees are common, it's just that i'[ve never seen these insects that are hanging around the nest entrance.

This species of wasp? are smaller than the bees who's nest they are trying to enter.